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MTED STATUS OF AMERICA, 



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IN MEMORY 



OF 



• 



Ernst Krackowizer 




TOLCpOV 

X<j06ov6 aoeAcpcD qpikraroo nopevaofjiai. 

Soph. Antig. 



NEW YORK: 

G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS 

4th Ave. & 23D Street. 

1875. 



CONTENTS. 



Declaration of the Trustees and Physicians of the German Hos- 
pital and Dispensary 5 

Declaration of the Gesellig Wissenschaftliche Verein 7 

Declaration of the Society of German Physicians in New York . . 8 

Declaration of the New York Turn-Verein 9 

Resolutions of the Medical Board of the New York Hospital. . . 10 

Declaration of the Medical Board of the Mount Sinai Hospital. 11 

Resolutions of the Directors of the Mount Sinai Hospital 13 

Resolutions of the New York Academy of Medicine 14 

Resolutions of the State Charities Aid Association 15 

Resolutions of the Municipal Reform Association, Seventh 

Assembly District 16 

Programme of the Steinway Hall Memorial Meeting, October 

22, 1875 x 7 

Introductory Remarks of Dr. F. Zinsser 19 

Address of Dr. H. Althof. 20 

Address of E. F. Hall, Esq 26 

Address of Hon. Carl Schurz 30 

Address of Dr. A. Jacobi, before the New York Academy of 

Medicine, November 4, 1875 33 



fa« friUj$etttge §infd)eiben unfereS GEotfegen, gv. (#vn$'t ^vachauiscv, 
l^at in unferer Wxttt eine Sittfe i?crurfacf)t f fete niajt ttueber auSgefiiHt 
toerben fann. (Sr toar tie ©eete jeneS ffeinen SheifeS Don 'JJMnnern, tie bag 
5) e u t f d) e 2)i8penfarD gritnbeten, unb er trug mefyr a(8 jeber $lnbere 
ba^u bet, baS Deutfcfye £)o8tottat in'S Seben ^u rufen. ©einer un* 
ermiitliaVn Xfyattgfett unb treuen ^fUdjterfitCtuitg gelang e8, biefe 5Inftatten 
auf bte <3tufe w erfyeben, auf ter fie jet3t ftefyen. 23et ben 53eratfyungen 
iiber bie 23ern;a(tung berfclben oerbantten ttu'r feiner 23eobad)tung$gabe unb 
feinem ©djarffum bte §tntr>eifung auf baS, toaS notfyftenbig unb jtocrfmagig 
tear j feiner (Srfafyrung unb fetnen ftenntniffen bie SmDfefylung ber beften 
SWittet unb 2Sege, unb feiner SRufye unb Sftilbe bie 2tuSgletdntng unb 33er= 
fotmung Don toberfpredjeuben 2lnfid)ten. 3n ber SlfoSfubrung Don befcfylof* 
fenen Sftaferegeln fidjerten fein (Stfer unb feine (Snergie ben (Srfotg. 

£ie 2ler,$te ber ^nftalten fyaben in ifym ten Warm gefefyen, ber ifyren 
SSerbanb m fiifyren berufen Wax, unb gteidjfam felbftoerftdntttd) ttmrbe er 
atS ifyr §aupt geefyrt. £>en ctlteren (Megen ber juocrlajfigftc $reunb, ben 
jiingeren ber toefytmotlenbfte 33cratfyer, mar er 2IUen ein S5orbilb in Mem, 
loa$ ben 33eruf be$ $lqte8 abett. UmfaffenbeS 2Biffen, reid)e @rfal;rung 
unb unbefted)lid)e$ Urtfyeit oercinten fid) in feltenem Wlafe mit ftcfyerer >Kufye, 
unerfd)cpflid)er ©ebulb unb einer riifyrenben ^ietdt fitr bie SeiDenben, benen 
er nidjt nur feine au3getefynten unb gebiegenen tantniffe, fontern audj 
feine £fyei(nafyme unb SJcenidjenliebe mibmete. 

£)er SSorftanb unb bie 3ler^te tinmen fein 5(nben!en auf feine beffere SBetfe 
efyren, a($ burcfy baS 33eftreben, bie 2lnfta(ten, bie ifym fo Diet oerbanfen, 
in feinem <3inne roetter 311 fiifyren, unb ifyre Seiftungen ju Dergrogern. 
SDiejenigen Don un8, bie feine $reunb[cfyaft genoffen, fatten ©elegenfyeir, 
feine Siebe unb ^iirforge im fyduSlidjen, feine innige ©emiitfyltcfyfeit unb 
grifd;e im^gefetUgen Streife fennen unb fcfyd^en ju ternen. 2Btr Wt er= 



IN MEMORY OF 



fcmnten unb efyrten fetne eblen (Stgenfdjaften unb toaren ftol^ barauf, ifym 
al$ Sftttarbetter jugcfellt $u fetn. 

^nbern totr fel&ft fo Diet fcerloren fyaBert, finb totr tm ©tanbe, bte ©rbge 
be$ S3erfufte§ $u toiirbtgen, ben fetne gamitie erlttten fyat, unb nrir fprecfyen 
berfelben tytermtt un(ere ttefgefu'fytte unb inntgfte £fyeUnafyme au$. 

J)er Iflmtmltungaratl) unb Me .SUrjte t>e0 Ulcutfcljcn 4}ct0pUul0 unfr jDwpenfarg in 



3. «blcr, M. D. 

£. Sltt^of, M. D. 

Dr. 8. Bopp. 

Dr. 8. (Sonrab. 

8out§ g. ©gltnger. 

Dr. ©. grauenftetn. 

©ufiato gretygang. 

#. ©ulefe, M. D. 

6. ©obfrety ©linger, $rej 

51. §etbftecf. 

2)?. ©erjog, M. D. 

». Sacofct, M. D. 

Hermann $at>n, M. D. 

^eter £ efyr. 

§. JH0& M. D. 

(SfyaS. Rremer, M. D. 

@eo. 2B. Mger. 

g. Struttna. 

Dr. §. g. ffubltdj, 

Dr. 8angtnann. 

Dr. (§. ©auer. 

6. g. 8e(Imann, M. D. 

51. 8tnbgen$. 

g. 9W. 3Waa«. 



$eter ©. 2R«ffler. 

(S. 9?oggeratf>, M. D. 

Dr. ^ramann. 

3- g. We. 

(Sbtrarb ©atomon. 

gr. ©d>acf. 

33. ©partem, M. D. 

©cfymtot, M. D. 

3. ©djnetter, M. D. 

(Sari §. ©djulfc. 

©btoarb g. @<$toebter, M. D, 

Dr. §. u. @et)fricb. 

granctS <3 mired, M. D. 

Dr. 3of. ©tmrorf. 

©tac^etberg, M. D. 

8. ©tern, M. D. 

Dr. 8ubtmg ©traug. 

gerbhtanb SEraub. 

% §. Sfynbale, M. D. 

2BiCty 2Ba(lad>. 

Dr. (gmtt SBettengel. 

2Bm. Baffler. 

Slug. 3tnf[cr. 

g. 3infler, M. D. 



ERNST KRACKOWIZER. 7 

3n bem fo unermarteten unb friif^eitigen Xobe feineS oerefyrten ^rdfi- 
benten, gv. (tfvnst ^nichonnset', erleibet bcr „® ef eUig* 2B iff en* 
f d) a f 1 1 1 cb e herein" ben fydrteften unb ^erbften SSerluft, ber tfyn feit 
fetner (Sntftefyung betroffen fyat. 

2)er herein betrauert in bem 2)afyingefd)iebenen einen fetner ©tifter, ber 
ntct>t nur bie Sftee, fiir bie gebilbeten 3)eutfd)en 9?em tyoxH einen miffen* 
fdjaftlidjen unb gefellfdjafttid^en 93ereinigungSpun?t $u fd;affen, mit roarmer 
SEfyeilnafynte oertrat, fonbern aucfy an ber *BerroirfUdrang biefer $bee burcfy 
bie ©riinbung be$ gefellig-roiffenfdjaftlicfyen 23erein$ einen eutfcfyeibenben 
5tntt>et( t)atte. 

£)er herein erfennt in ber eifrigen £fyei(nafyme, roeld^e ber $erftorbene 
gteidjmdjsig ben miffenfd;aftlid)en 2lrbeiten, ber Seratlrang afler 93erein§* 
fragen, unt> ber "Pflege ber gefeflfd)aftlid)en Unterfyaltungen nnbmete, eineS 
ber ftdifften 53anbe, roeld^e ben herein bei feinem SSegtnne t»or 3 eT f a ^ un ^ 
in feinem $ortfd)ritte oor 3crfplitterung betoabrte. £)er herein betradjtet 
ba8 ftetige unt> fyoffnungSoolIe 2Bad)$tfyum, beffen ei ficfy 3U erfreuen fyatte, 
jura groften SL^eite al8 eine ^Birtung beS anrcgenben (SinfluffeS fetncS oer* 
ftorbenen ^rdfibenten, in bem eine ^iifte ber reidjften unb raannigfaltigften 
^enntniffe rait ber geretfteften (Srfafyrung, bem feinften Xafte, unb bem acfe= 
tungSmertfyeften GEfyarafter fid) in fettenfter 2Beife oereinigte. 

2)ie STrauer beg $eretn$ ift urn fo greyer, menu er fid) erinnert, bag er in 
Dr. (S. ^radon^er nid)t nur einen ©riinber, ein curd) feltene 33erbienfte 
auSge^eidraeteS 9Jiitglieb, einen aUgemein fcerefyrten ^rdfibenten, fonbern 
aucfy einen ber fyeroorragenbften banner ber 9#etropete ber neuen 2Bett 
oerloren fyat. SUetn ift unb mar ju alien 3dten bie 3afyl ber banner, bie 
auf ben oerfd^iebenften ©ebieten ber 2Btfjenfcfyaft, toie im offentlid?en unb 
gefeOfd;aftltd)en i*eben eine fo fyer^orragenbe ©teflung, mie ber $erftorbene, 
einnafymen, unb einen fo fegenSreicfyen (Sinflug nacfy ben fcerfdnebenften 
Sfticfytungen auSitbten. 

2)er 53erluft eineg fotcfyen SDtanne§ ift fiir unfern herein unerfetjlid). 
@ein 2lnbenfen unter un8 trirb nie erlbfcfyen. 

3>uUu8 ©roger, (Smtl 9?i3ggeratlj, 

©ecretdr. ^rdftbent. 



8 IN MEMORY OF 

2)er fo unerroartet erfolgte Xob, toetcfter gv. (#m£t ^XMfcttVCXZtXt ben 
Setter beutfdjer mebi^intfdjer 2Biffenfd)aft in America, mitten in DoHer 
2ftanne$fraft unb in emftger 5lu3itbung feiner jo btelfettigen £fyattgfeit 
bafyin gerafft, fyat Bet un8, ben SScrtretern beutfdjer 2Ir$nettoiffenfd)aft, einen 
erfd^ittternben (Sinbrud fyeroorgerufen, unb e§ fyaben bafyer bte TOtgtieber 
beg 23erein3 2)eutfd)er ^C e r 3 1 e ber@tabt9ceto?)orfin 
einer augerorbentlid?en ®efd)dft§[t£ung Befd)(offen, i^ren ©efitfyten, toeldfye 
buxd) bag fo tragifdje (Sreignig angeregt tourben, einen offentlidjen 9Iu§brud 
3U oerteifyen. 

2Bir berefyrten in bent SBerftorbenen ben Dfaprafentanten beg gortfdjrttteS, 
fotoofyt auf bent ©eBtete ber Sftebi^in im 2l0gemetnen, tote fpejietl ber 
dfytrurgtfdfyen $unft unb 28tffenfd)aft, inbem er burcfy fetne reid)e 33ega6ung, 
burd) fein emfigeg ©treBen auf Beiben ©eBieten fid) unumftbgUd)e 33er= 
bienfte urn unfere 2Biffen[d)aft ertoorBen, unb im8 Slflcn at8 ein juoertaffiger 
Setter Dorgeleud)tet. 

SBenn toir im8 edauben, unfere Xfyeitnafyme an bent ^Ibleben unfereS 
(Soflegen Dr. (Srnft ^radototjer in bie Deffentttdjfett ju brtngen, fo ge* 
fdu'efyt biefeS in bent SSenmgtfetn, bag ber 2Bertfy beS gnngefcfytebenen toeit 
itber bie engen ($renjen unfereS $erbanbc3 fyinauS, itbcrall ba, too bie 
5lr^netfunbe eine §eimftatte gefunben, anerfannt, unb fein SBerluft entpfun* 
ben totrb. 

3)te 5ler^te, toetdje, toie toir, ba$ ®IM fatten, al$ Sottegen in perfon= 
lidfyent 23erfefyr ntit bent SSerftorbencn ju ftc^cn, briidt bie 2Bud»t be$ (Sretg* 
niffeS begfyatb urn fo fd^merer barnieber, toeit er ifynen burd) bie fetelen 
fyeroorragenben (Stgenfdjaften feineS ebten menfdjlidjen QfyarafterS teener 
getoorben toar unb bteiben toirb fiir alle ^etten. 

§offen totr, bag ben £mtterbtiebenen, toetdje fein Xob am unmittetbarften 
Beriifyrt, burd) bte allgemeine £fyeilnafyme, bie berfetbe Bet 2Wen, toetaje ifym 
nafye geftanben, ^eroorgerufen t>at, baS §erBe be$ ©ajmer^eS gentilbert 
toerbe. 

2)a$ (£ommitte: 

(Smtt 9coggeratfy,M. D. Seonarb 2BeBer, M. D. 

SBarnim ©cfyarlau, M. D. $ranci$ ©imrod, M. D. 

Sari $. SeUmann, M. D. 



ERNST KRACKOWIZER. 



W c to ?) o r f , ben 12. October, 1875. 

Sftero 2) or! Xurn*$erein, 

66 unb 68 Oft Sierte ©trage. 

3)a bie traurige ^ttnbe fcon bem gu fritfyen 3)afyinfdbetben beg §errn 
Dr. <$rn.$t ^vtHCkaitisev unS tief bcrii^rt, unb in 3lnerlennung feitter un= 
fd)a£baren S)tenfte a(8 Slr^t, SBofyltfydter, unb unabfyangig fret gefimtter 
2ftann, ftetS fiir baS 2Bofyl unb 23efte fetner 9Jfttmertfa)en bebacfyt; unb in 
2Inerfennung fetner guten (Stgenfdjaften al3 @efellfa)after, bie t^n gur $ierbe 
be$ £)eutfcfyttyumS 9?ett> tyoxU maajten, fyat ber 9?et» 2)orf £urn=93erein in 
fetner 33erfamtntung oom 2. October, 1875, mtt (£tnftimrnigfeit befcfyloffen, 
3fynen bie Serftdjerung unferer innigften £fyei(nafyme an S^rem uner- 
fefeli ten 93erlufte, lunb ju tfyun, unb tag bag 2lnbenfen an ben Serftorbenen 
ftetS ntit after ^odjadjtung in bem Serein betoafyrt fein tt>irb. 

%. 3- trauc^er, (Sdjrtftmart. 
9ln bie ^amilie beS oerftorbenen 
Dr. d. ^racfototger. 



IO IN MEMORY OF 



At a meeting of the Medical Board of the New York Hos- 
pital, held September 24, 1875, the following resolutions 
were passed : 

Whereas, It has pleased an inscrutable Providence to 
remove from his sphere of usefulness in this world, in the 
prime of manhood and the fullness of his powers, Dr. Ernst 
Krackowizer, our late associate in this Board ; therefore, 

Resolved, That in the death of Dr. Krackowizer this hos- 
pital has lost one of the ablest counsellors and most accom- 
plished surgeons that have ever adorned its staff. 

Resolved, That, as his associates, we are called upon to 
mourn the loss of one whose personal character and excep- 
tional attainments and ability have always commanded our 
highest admiration and most implicit confidence. 

Resolved, That the death of our lamented colleague cre- 
ates a void in the ranks of our profession which will be long 
and deeply felt, and that the example of his loyalty to his 
calling, his rare attainments and rich experience have con- 
tributed in an eminent degree to elevate the standard of pro- 
fessional excellence in this community. 

Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be transmitted 
to the family of the deceased, and be published in the medi- 
cal journals. 



ERNST KRACKOWIZER. II 



The Medical Board of Mount Sinai Hospital met at the 
residence of the President, Dr. Willard Parker, 41 East 12th 
Street, New York, October 1, 1875, when the following re- 
port was read and adopted : 

The Medical Board of Mount Sinai Hospital meet to-night 
for the purpose of giving expression to their deep sorrow at 
the death of Dr. Ernst Krackowizer. A few resolutions of 
any nature whatsoever would not suffice to do justice to the 
memory of one on whom the most erudite and experienced 
surgeons of the country looked as their equal; who was re- 
cognized as a superior pathologist by the foremost men 
of the American profession ; admired and called in council 
by all for his learning, skill, sound judgment, philosophical 
profoundness, and urbanity of manner ; whose only ambition 
was incorruptible probity for himself and the elevation of 
the profession and mankind in general, and who, therefore, 
participated and led in every effort — professional, social, and 
political — in behalf of his exalted views and aims. In their 
prosecution he spent his strength and health, equally with 
his means, while his generosity was surpassed only by his 
modesty. 

When such a man is removed from his sphere of useful- 
ness, the universal feeling is that of a universal calamity. As 
his immediate colleagues, however, we deem it proper to 
simply express the deep sense of our bereavement. The 
Mount Sinai Hospital loses in Dr. Krackowizer a most zeal- 



12 IN MEMORY OF 

ous and successful surgeon and counsellor, whose services 
have been of invaluable importance to the Hospital. Both 
the Medical Board and the suffering sick will always remem- 
ber them with both gratitude and sadness ; and therefore the 
Medical Board, knowing what they have lost themselves, 
avail themselves of this sad opportunity to express to the 
family of the deceased their heartfelt sympathy with their 
loss, which cannot possibly be either repaired or forgotten. 

A. Jacobi, 
Chairman of the Committee. 



ERNST KRACKOWIZER. 1 3 



At a meeting of the Board of Directors of the Mount 
Sinai Hospital, held September 26, 1875, the following pre- 
amble and resolutions were unanimously adopted : 

Whereas, It is with heartfelt regret that we have learned 
of the death of our esteemed and respected friend, Dr. Ernst 
Krackowizer, who for the past sixteen years has been attached 
to the medical staff of this institution. In view of his great 
ability and faithfulness, be it 

Resolved, That we deeply deplore the loss of Dr. Kracko- 
wizer, whose services for a long period of time have been of 
inestimable value to this Hospital. We recognize his fidel- 
ity to duty, the super-eminent character of his services, his 
wise counsel and amiable disposition. 

Resolved, That we tender to his widow and family our 
heartfelt sympathies for this great affliction they have been 
called upon to sustain. 

Resolved, That this preamble and resolution, signed by 
our president and secretary, be published, and a copy for- 
warded to the family of the deceased. 

E. B. Hart, President. 
N. LlTTAUER, Secretary. 



14 IN MEMORY OF 



At a stated meeting of the New York Academy of Medi- 
cine, held October 21, 1875, a committee, consisting of Drs. 
A. Jacobi and Gurdon Buck, presented the following resolu- 
tions, which were unanimously adopted : 

Resolved, That in the decease of Dr. Krackowizer the Fel- 
lows of the New York Academy of Medicine have sustained 
the loss of one of their most eminent and highly esteemed 
associates. Eminent for his thorough and extensive profes- 
sional acquirements, his varied experience and mature 
judgment, his practical skill and brilliant success, espe- 
cially as a surgeon. Esteemed for his honorable and up- 
right character, his unvarying trustworthiness, his cordial 
and friendly bearing, and his self-sacrificing loyalty to duty. 

Resolved, That we will cherish his. memory as a bright 
example of professional rectitude and private virtue, worthy 
of our constant emulation. 

Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions, duly authenti- 
cated, be communicated by the Secretary to the family of 
the deceased, with the expression of our sympathy in their 
great bereavement. 

Resolved, That these resolutions be published in the med- 
ical journals of this city. 

S. S. PURPLE, M. D., President. 

W. T. White, M. D., Secretary. 



ERNST KRACKOWIZER. I 5 



Whereas, The State Charities Aid Association has heard 
with profound sorrow of the death of one of its most efficient 
members, 

Dr. Ernst Krackowizer, 
therefore, 

Resolved, That the Secretary be instructed to convey to 
the family of the deceased the high appreciation ever enter- 
tained by the Association of the valuable services rendered 
by Dr. Krackowizer to the cause of humanity in Tiis various 
connections with the charities of New York, and that they 
desire hereby to convey to them the sense of deep sympathy 
with which they share in their irreparable loss. 

The Ladies of the Bellevue Hospital Committee desire to 
add their tribute of respect to the memory of Dr. Kracko- 
wizer for his great personal kindness and untiring assiduity 
in promoting, in every way, the interests of the mission. 



l6 IN MEMORY OF 



Headquarters of the Municipal Reform Association. 

Seventh Assembly District. 
To the Family of the late ERNST KRACKOWIZER, M. D. : 

At a meeting of this Association, held September 28, 
the following preamble and resolutions were unanimously 
adopted : 

Whereas, Dr. Ernst Krackowizer, a member of this Asso- 
ciation and a man universally beloved and respected as a 
citizen, has departed this life ; therefore 

Resolved, That in his death the cause of Reform has lost a 
true friend, and the community a most valuable member. 

Resolved, That suitable insignia of mourning be displayed in 
these rooms for the next thirty days, and that a copy of these 
resolutions be transmitted to the family of the deceased. 

LLOYD ASPINWALL, President. 

J AS. W. CORSA, Secretary. 



ERNST KRACKOWIZER. 1 7 



STEINWAY HALL. 



MEMORIAL MEETING 

IN HONOR OF THE LATE 

• ERNST KRACKOWIZER, M. D., 

Friday, October 22, 1875, at % P.M., 

UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE 

GERMAN SOCIAL AND SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY OF 
NEW YORK. 



I. Funeral March, for Trombones and Horns, F. HlLLER. 

Introductory Remarks bv the ) ^ _ „ 

„ . , J ' Dr. F. Zinsser. 

President ) 

German Oration, by Dr. H. ALTHOF. 



2. Geisterchor F. SCHUBERT. 

GERMAN LIEDERKRANZ. 

English Oration, by E. F. Hall, Esq. 



3. Pilger auf Erden F. SCHUBERT. 

ARION SOCIETY. 

German Oration, by the "Hon. Carl Schurz. 



4. Pilgerchor from ''Tannhauser " . R. WAGNER. 

ARION SOCIETY AND GERMAN LIEDERKRANZ. 



IN MEMORY OF 



COMMITTEE. 



Gen. Lloyd Aspinwall. 
H. Althof, M. D. 
Geo. Asmus, Esq. 
Marc Blumenthal, M. D. 
James Brown, Esq. 
H. N. Beers, Esq. 
Philip Bissinger, Esq. 
Prof. Chas. F. Chandler. 
F. Delafield, M. D. 
John C. Green, Esq. 
Hon. C. Godfrey Gunther 
O. Hundt, Esq. 
Eman B. Hart, Esq. 
A. Jacobi, M. D. 
L. Kaemmerer, Esq. 
John R. Van Kleek, M. D 
E. Noeggerath, M. D. 
E. Oelbermann, Esq. 
Hon. O. Ottendorfer. 
Edm. R. Peaslee, M. D. 
S. S. Purple, M. D. 
Chas. Ruebsam, Esq. 
Henry B. Sands, M. D. 
Prof. A. J.-Schem. 
C. H. Schultz, Esq. 
William Steinway, Esq. 
Willy Wallach, Esq. 
Fr. Zinsser, M. D. 



ERNST KRACKOWIZER. 19 



2lnforad)e be$ $r + g + Btnffer* 

2)iefe §allc, fonft bie (Statte ber greifoe unb beg ©enujjeS, foil fyeute 
3?uge toerben einer ^eier ber Xrauer unb ber fd)toermiitt)igen (Srinnerung. 
£ier, too toir fonft ung erbauen unb erfyeben an ben eroigen 2Ber!en ber 
unfterblid)en TOetfter ber Shmft, rooflen toir fyeute bag 2lnben!en feiern eineg 
9}?anneg ber 2BtjJenfd)aft, ber $u fritfye ung entrtffen tourbe burd) ben un= 
erbitttidjen £ob. $or Hur^em nod) betefyrt, gefitfyrt, beratfyen unb getrbftet 
oon feiner Iteben unb oertrauten ©titnme, lonnen roir ung nid)t baran ge= 
roefynen, btefe ju entbefyren. (Sg fdjeint unmbglid), ba§ er, ber ^reunb aUer 
2)cenfd)en, ber ©elbftiofe, ber afteg Umfaffenbe nicfyt mefyr fei, unb ©cbmer^ 
unb Summer crfiiUen bie ©emitter fetner ^a^Uofen ^reunbe unb banlbaren 
SBerefyrer. — 2lber toir tootlen, tro£ ber traurtgen ^erantaffung, bie $bee ber 
$reube unb beg ©enufjeg bod) nicfyt 3U toeit oon ber $anb toeifen. 2Bir 
2ltfe oerbanfen ber 33etrad)tung ber grofcen banner ber ©efcfytdjte bie 
©tuttben ber reid)ften $reube unb beg fyod)ften ©enujjeS ; tote otel erfyeben* 
ber unb genugretd;er mug eg fein, ju fyoren oon etnent eblen unb grojen 
9#anne, ber unter ung gelebt ^>at, an bent loir ung erbaut, oon bent roir 
geternt, ju bent toir emporgeblitft, ber ung etn leudfytenbeg SSorbtlb mar, 
rote totr unfer Seben geftatten follen in jeber 23e$ier/ung, al8 9ftenfd), atg 
burger unb atg getreuer (§rf utter beg getoat/tten 23erufeg. — 3d) toill bent 
23itbe nicfyt oorgreifen, bag 33erufenere fyeute s ilbenb oor S^nen aufrotten 
toerben. 2Btr atte rourbett tm ©tanbe fetn, bemjelben etn^elne cbarafteriftifcfye 
3iige fyhtjujufiigen ; benn totr 5lfte fyaben bag Original gelannt unb geliebt ; 
aber bag barf id) ftttm befyaupten unb bag macfyte iljit ju bent (Stn^igen : ba 
tft Dftemanb, ber aud) nur ben Keinften gterfen baran nad^utoeifen oer* 
mod)te. ©ro§, erfyaben unb betounberunggtoitrbig ftefyt biefer (5fyarafter 
oor unferem ©ebacfytnift, unb bag fefmenbe Denfen an ifyn toirb nie ertofcfyen 
in unferen ^er^en. 

§bren toir nun, roag bie Sftebner beg 3lbenbg ung 3U fagen ^aben. 2Benn 
fie ung einerfeitg mit Xrauer erfitUen, fo roerben fie auf ber anberen (Seite 
ung erfittlen mit gerecfytem ©tot^e; benn er mar unfer, beffen 5Inbenlen toir 
tjeute feiern. 



20 IN MEMORY OF 



9?ebe beg 2>r. #. 9lltl)of. 

„233eim tmr geboren merben," fo fagt eine atte Segenbe, „roirb auf ung 
abgefd)offen aug ber (Sroigfeit ber $fct( beg Xobeg. Unb ber ^pfcit fliegt 
Stage, Sftonbe, ^atyre tang, unb roenn er anfomnit, fo miiffen fair fterben. 
„„©ei eg em fetig Gfrtbe,"" fagen bann bie, beren 'ipfetle nod) fUegen." — 
Unb atg am Sfarfmiittage beg 23. September (old) ein ^feil in wtferer 
iOtttte aufam, unb fanned fid) bie £rauerhmbe oerbreitete, (Srnft Slrarfotoi^er 
fet tobt, ba bad)te rootyl 9#and)er, ber ben Sftcmn fannte, an ben alten 
©prud). SBar bed) ein fcJeben ^u (Snbe gegangen, bag felbfttog unb obfer* 
freubig nur ©egen urn fid) oerbreitete, unb ein Sftenfd) gefd)ieben, ben tmr 
entbefyren miiffen, aber nid)t erfe^en lonnen. (£g femmt fiir ^cb?n bie Qtit, 
fd)tt>eigenb ju letben, aber eg lonimt aud) ber STag, an bem tt)ir in gegen= 
feitiger 9Q?ittt)eitung eine tDefymiitfytge ©enugtfyuung finben, an bem ber 
@d)mer$ beg £obeg ber ftiflen £rauer toetdjt, mit ber mir bag 5Inbenfen an 
getiebte ©efefyiebene efyren unb feiern. (Sin foldjer Xag ift fiir ung fyeute, — 
laffen ©ie benn mid), ben <Sd)itler, mit ber (Srjafytung beg Sebenglaufeg beg 
SIfteifterg beginnen. 

2tm 3. S^ember 1822 rourbe (Srnji Sh-acf eraser in ©bitat am ^Ptyrfyn, 
einem Sftatftfleden Dberofterreidjg, geboren, ber ©ofm beg faiferlid)en 
(Sommiffdrg ^erbinanb ^rarforoi^er. SJtad) bem friifyen £obe beg SSaterg 
3og bie Gutter nad) ber ©tabt ^remgmu'nfter, bem @i§e eineg in jener 
£eit fyerborragenben ©fytnnafimng unb 2i)ceumg, auf raetdiem bie ©efyne bie 
SSorbtlbung ^ur Unioerfitdt erfyielten. 9?ad) 33eenbigung ber pfyitofobfyifdjen 
(Surfe todtylte (Srnjr alg $ad)ftubium SDfebijm unb brad)te bie erften jmet 
^afyre in 3Bien, bag britte in ^aoia unb bie beiben le£ten roteber in 2Bien 
^u. ©d)on in biefen le£ten ^atyren rourbe ifym Don ben bfterreid)ifd)en 
£anbegftdnben ber @ttftunggb(a£ an ber erften d)irurgtjd)en Siltntf juertfyeilt, 
unb in ber ©tellung alg fogenannter Dberationg^ogttng oerbtieb er unter 
ber £eitung beg genialen (Sfyirurgen gran$ ©d)ufy ^toei 3^rc. TO bann 
bie ©taatgpriifungen beftanben roaren, heft er fid) in ber ©tabt ©tefyer ai^ 
practifefyer Slr^t nieber, entfefyteft fid) aber fd)on fiinf donate fpater auf 
bringenbeg (Srfucfyen feineg Sefyrerg ©dmr/, ^ur Uebernafyme ber ©telle alg 






ERNST KRACKOWIZER. 21 

erfter ^Iffiftent ber d)irurgtfd)en HIinif nad) 2Bien juriid $ufef)ren, unb fungirte 
atg fofdjer brei ^ia^re. $n biefe 3'-it fatten au£gebet)nte 9?cifen in £)eutfd)= 
lanb, (3d)meben, 9?ormegen unb ^talten, unb bie 33efanntfd)aft unb tfyetf; 
toetfe innige ftreunbfdiaft nut ben bebeutenbften gadjmannern jener 3 e ^- 
@o mar bag 3a^r 1848 fyerangcfoiumen, unb ber junge, fdmell befannt 
gemorbene 5lqt marf fid) mit ^euereifer in bie politifd)e 23emegung. Wad) 
ber (Sinnafyme 2Bien'S blteb er, feltfanter SBeife unbclaftigt, ncdj eine $eit 
lang in feiner Stellung, mufHe bann aber in fyod)fter (Sile unb mit @efafyr 
be§ £eben£ Defterreid) oerlaffen, flofy nad) 23aiern unb manbtc fid) oon bort 
3U ber 2£itrtembergifd)en Unioerfitat Xitbingen. 

2)er beriifymte, nod) jefct bort meilenbe (Sfyirurg 53ictcr to. 53run3 ernannte 
ifyn ju feinem 2(fftftenten, aber fd)on nad) 9 ?D?onaten mufete er fein s 2lft)t 
oerlaffen unb ging nad) Sliet, mo er mit grc^em (Srfolge S5orlefungen iiber 
operattoe ^peUfunbe tjtelt. 2Bal)renb feineS 2Iufentfyalteg an le^terer Unt= 
berfitdt erging an ifyn ber 9?uf a(3 ^Director ber ^rrenanftalt in 3 ur ^^ fecit 
er inbeft ablefynte, unb alS ber <3d)tefmig--!polftcinifd)e Meg fein ungludlid) 
(Snbe nafym, unb miecer feine (Eid)erfyeit bebrofyt murbe, entfcfylog er fid) im 
9#ai 1850, nad) ben 23ereinigten (^taaten au^umanbern. 

fcitfomqer betrat am 28. Sunt 1850 ben 23oben unfereS neuen 55atcr- 
tanbeS trc£ feiner jungen ^abre al8 gereifter 2ft aim, fiir feinen 33eruf aufg 
forgfdltigfte er^ogen unb an Character geftdtylt in ber fyarten @d)ute beg 
Sebeng. (Sr Heft fid) in 2Bifliamgburg nieber, griinbete bort balb eine fid)ere 
<Steflung unb einen eigenen fyauslicben §eerb. 2Bte fc^nett fein s Jcame unb 
fein 2lnfel)en mucbg', mie unertnittttd) unb freubig er bort arbeitete, tieg id) 
mir oon 9J?and)em er^afylen, ber 3 elI 9 e i ener 3 e ^ ^ar, unb id) irte mid) 
nid)t, menn id) fage, baft fyeute 2Ibenb 53iele unter ung finfe, bie feinen 2lnfang 
unb fein 5Bad)gtt)um mit erlebten. £rat bod) fcben bamalg feine munberbare 
(Stgenfdiaft $u ifym fyeran, bie in ben le^ten £ebengjal)ren fid) ju fyocfyfter 
23o(Ienbung entrotdette: bie ®abt, oom erften ^lugenblid an ein unerfd)utter= 
lid) $ertrauen ein^uftc^en. 3)ie oornet)me 9?ut;c ber (Srfdjeinung, bie to, 
mie er bem tranfen na^te, ber milbe 33licf be§ 5luge3 oerfetjtten ifyren (Sin= 
brud nie, unb toofyl glaube ic^, mag fie fagen in unferer iRad)barftafet : bag 
bie 9?ad)rid)t feineg Xobeg fie getroffen fyabt, mie ber 33erluft Deg beften 
greunbeg. Unb bod) finb eg faft jman^ig ^a^re, feit er bie ©tatte feiner 



22 IN MEMORY OF 

erften SBtrffamfeit oertieg, jftanjig ^a^re etner 3d*, in ber fo totel ertebt 
unb fo fdjneU oergeffen mirb. 

9reben angeftrengter ^rioattfydtigfett enttoidette fid) aber fcfyett bamalS 
bag 25ebitrfni§, fiir fein $ad) and) nad) 2lu§en fyin ju mirfen, unb begfyatb 
grihtbete er mit feinett ftreunben, Don 9?otfy unb ^er^fa, b* e „9?eto Sorter 
9#ebi$inifd)e $ftonatgfd)rift", beftimmt, ein ©ammelpunft fitr bie 2etftungen 
beutfcfyer Ster^te beg neuen 23aterlanteg §u merben. 1)oc^ mar bie 3 a fyl ber 
9D?itgIteber unfereg Stanbeg, metcfye ftcb jit fd)riftftetlertfd)er Xfy&tigfeit be; 
rufen fiiblten, ^u feiner $dt nod) nid)t ^afylreid) genug, um ein berartigeg 
Unternefymen bauernb ^u ftii^en. 

$3ar aber and) ber erfte ^tan, fid6> unb Wnbere ju forbern, nid)t oon 
(Srfotg beglettet, bag ©treben nadi 2Beiterbttbung mucfyg oon Xag ju £ag, 
unb im ^erbfte beg 3afyreg 1857 fiebelte Sfr:adomi$er nad) 9?eto 2)orf iiber ; 
mit biefem ^bfdmitt begtnnt ber reid)fte ^^et( feineg ^ebeng. 

2)ie beutfd)en to^te ber ©tabt maren ju jener 3 e *t nid)t o^ne Drgani* 
fatten, aber eg feblte ifynen ein 3>nftitut, mte eg immer notfyig ift, menn oer* 
ein^elte Hrafte fid) erfolgreid) ju gemeinfamer Arbeit oerbinben {often, 
©dmn menige donate' nad) ftradomi^er'g ^teberlaffung murbe burcfy 
©rridjtung beg „3)eutfd)en SDtgpenfarfy" in (Sanatftreet ein folder Sftittet* 
puntt gefdjoffen unb um benfelben concentrirten ficf> in luqer 3 e *t e ™ e 
Stn^ar;! oon SCrdften, bie eg bie ©onner ber 2inftalt nicfyt bereuen lie§en, bie 
notfytgen Wlittd befefyafft $u fyaben, 3m 5Infd)lu§ baran entftanb ber 
„ herein ber Sler^te beg beutfefyen iDigpenfart)", beffen 9J?itglieber in regel= 
maftigen ©i^ungen ifyre (Srfcfyrungen augtaufefyten unb oor 2ltlem fief? gegen* 
feittg iiber afle neuen micfyttgen Uterarifdjen (Srfcfyeumngen unterridjteten. 
3)er (eitenbe ©eift ber neuen Unternefymung mar ^radotoi^er, unb atg fie in 
erfreultd)fter 2Beife blitfyte, ricbtete fein meitfefyauenber 33Ud fid) auf bag 
nddjfte gtet, bie (Srtoeiterung beg £)igpenfarfy ju einem <Spitat. 

2)ag 53ebiirfni6 einer foldjen Sinftalt fyatte ficfy bereitg Jsafyre f)inburd) 
geltenb gemad;t unb oor Slflem in ben fcfyonen unermiibiic^en 53eftrebungen 
ber ^rauenoereuie bocumentirt. 5lber bag gute 2Berl mar in ? g @toden ge= 
ratten, ^aft fatten bie ^rbeiter bie §offnung aufgegeben, e^ tonne fiir fie 
je ber Sag fommen, an bem fie burd) (Sroffnung eine^ beutfd^en ^ranfen^ 
^aufeg bag geft i^rer Srnte feierten,— eg fe^Ite bei aCL ? gutem 2Biflen, bet 



ERNST KRACKOWIZER. 2$ 

afler £iid)tigfeit beg (Sinjelnen eine §anb, bie atfe biefe roofylmetnenben 
(Stemente $u(ammenfaf$te, ifyre SetftungSfd^tgfctt in etne beftinmtte 9ftd)tung 
brangte unb bamit ju neuer unb gefcbtcffener Xfyattgteit fiifyrte. 3d) glaube 
nid)t, ba§ etne ber $rauen ober einer ber banner, bte in jener £tit fo 
freubig fur bag §ofyital arbeiteten, ftcfy in feinen 23eftrebungen oerfannt 
fitfylt, toenn id) fage, bag (Srnft tradoroi^er jene leitenbe §anb rourbe. 
@leid) in ber erften 3$erfamm(ung, in nelcfyer ber ^3lan „mogtid)ft balb jum 
$3au beg ^pofpttald ju fd)reiten" befprodjen rourbe, alg oon alien ©eiten fid) 
uniiberroinblicr/e ©djtoterigfeiten erfyoben, fprad) er bie 2Boite : „2Btr afle 
glauben ein beutfcfyeg ©pital nbtfyig juf/aben; toenn bag toafyr ift, fo 
roerben ficf> aud) &ute ftnben, bie eg bauen ; laffen 3ie ung oorroartg getyen." 
2Bag er oorauggefagt, bag traf ein, — eg fanben fid) £eute bie bauten, unb 
atg bag §aug ftanb, ba begann fiir ifyn eine 2)oppel=Xf)atigfeit, a(g organic 
firenber 23eamter unb augitbenber Weft, toie fie toob;l fc^rcerltc^ unter 
afynftdjen Umftanben Don e i n e r ^3erfon geleiftet rourbe. 2Bag bie 2fttfta(t 
an itym oerliert, toiffen nur bie, bie mit ifym unb in feiner nad)ften 9£al)e far 
ifyr ©ebeifyen ftrebten. 

•fteben biefen bffentlicfyen Seiftungeu fyatte fid) nun im Saufe ber ^afyre 
feine ^rioattfyatigfett auf g ©Idngenbfte entfaltet unb bie auf biefem $etbe 
errungenen (Srfolge bafiren, fotbeit aqtlidje S£udjttgfett allein in 23etrad)t 
fommt, oortoiegenb auf ^roei 9ftomenten, bie in feiner mebi$inifd)en (Sr^ie* 
fyung (§pod)e madjenb toaren : Stradoroi^er roar oon einem ber getefyrteften 
nnb genialften (Sfyirurgen fpqteU fiir bag $ad) eqogen, bag am meiften pofU 
tioeg SBiffen, bie genauefte Seftimmung ber ^ranffyeit unb bie fidjerfte 2(ug* 
fuf/rung beg getoat)(ten §eiloerfaf;reng erforbert, unb roanbte fid) begfyatb 
SInfangg faft augfefytieglid) ber (Sfyirurgie ju. 2Bag er auf biefem $elbe 
leiftete, be^eugenbie^lcten ber mebtjintfdjen ®efeQfd)aften, benen er angef/orte; 
eine gan$e 9?etr;e ber grofjen d)irurgifd)en 23erfal)ren rourben oon ifym ber* 
arttg mobifijirt unb in ifyrer 2lugfitr/rung beeinftugt, bag fein 9?ame bauernb 
mit ifynen oerbunben bleiben roirb. Unb bod) biiifen roir ifyn feinen 
(5f;irurgen im eugften ©inne nennen — er umfagte bie roid)tigen anbern 3)t3* 
ciplinen ber 9J2ebtjin in aufeergeroofmlidjem @rabe, unb aud) $u biefer £ennt= 
nig roar fcfyon auf ber Unioerfitat ber ®runb gelegt. 

^n ben oierjiger ^afyren toe^ete eine frije^e Suft in ben bfterreidu'fcfyen 



24 IN MEMORY OF 

©taaten, bie atfgemad) ^u einem ©turmroinb roudjg, ber nid)t atletit art ben 
(^runbpfctlern beg ©taateg madjttg riittdte, fonbern aud) u'ber bag [10(36 
©ebdube felbftgcfdlliger Slrgnetmiftenfc^aft fyinroegfegte, bag eg in Sriimmer 
unb @dmtt $ufammenbrad). 2)ag mar bte gett, <r>o troftlojeg (Styaog 
fyerrfdjte, too tie 2Btener ©cfyule ben @a£ proflamirte : „(Sg mar 2lHe3 
eitel, eg ift s 2HIeg eitel", unb roo bag ©efiiljt ber ©fymnadjt fid; eineg ^eben 
bemad^tigte, ber an bag ©tubium ber SfteDtjtn fyerangetreten roar. 

2)iefelben banner aber, bie bag 2Berf ber 23erntd)tung augfiifyrten, 
unternafymen aud) ben 9ceubau, unb in bie 3eit biefer Umrodt^ung faOen bie 
©tubienjafyre $ratfott>ijer$. 2Bte oiele feiner SUterggenoffen, roie biel be* 
gabte banner fyaben fid) nie roieber Don bem @d)lage erfyolt, ber iiber ^Jcacbt 
fcernicfytete, roag ^afyrtyunberte gebaut unb getyeitigt fatten ; fie uerfielen 
nnrettbar bem fyerrjdjenten SftiljtltSmuS ber 3 e tt e P 0C ^ e oter Itammerten fid) 
angftlid) an bie gebrocfyenen ©dulen ber alten £empel. 3)ie ^raftigeren 
after aboptirten freubig bie neue Sefyre unb arbeiteten mit afler s JJcad)t ifyr 
ben 2Beg ^u ebnen. ^rad'oroi^er roanbte fid) mit ganger (Snergie auf bag 
©tubium ber fcattyologifdjen 2Inatomie, unb feine umfaffenbe Slenntntg biefer 
£)igcipiin roar eg befonberg, bie ifym ^uerft (Stnftag in amerifanifdjen Hretfen 
erroarb. Unb alg er erft eingefiifyrt roar, rourbe er batb fyeimifd) burd) ben 
Ghnft unb bie 2Bafyrfyafttgfeit f eineg 2Befeng,*bie ^larfyeit unb ©dja'rfe ber 
2)ialecttf, bag feltene talent bag Material fanned jufammen $u faffen unb 
in etnanber $u fiigen, ein beinat; intuittoeg Segretfen ber Shanffyett. ^Redjnet 
man fn'nju bie oollfte 2lbroe|'enf)eit jeber Dftentation, fiir^e unb Sfriappfyeit 
ber $?ebe, forgfdltigfte 2Iufmerf[amfeit auf ben ©ebanlengang winterer, fo ift 
nid)t §u uerrounbern, bag er ein roillfommener ©aft roar in ben 9?aumen, in 
benen bie s i£tffenfd)aft gepflegt rourbe, unb t>a$ fetn 2Bort fyod) gait in bem 
$reife ber beften banner, bie ben aqtlid)en ©tanb $ieren. Unb fie Der* 
trauten ifym nid)t nur bie (Sfyrenftellen an, bie 3U geben in tfyrer §anb tag, 
— fie recfyneten ilm aud) unter ben (Srften, bie augerroafylt rourben bem 
§itlferufe ^u folgen, ber in ber £eit beg grogen ^ampfeg an bie fyert>or* 
ragenbften Sfriegg^GEfyirurgen beg Sanbeg ergieng, unb ber 9came (Srnft 
$radoroi$er fyatte auf ben blutigen $elbern won 23ull 9?un unb greberidg* 
burg eben fo guten £lang, alg in ben ^ranfenfalen 9cero 9)orf'8. 

Unb biefe ©teUung unter ben eingeborenen ^leqten, tie er tebigtidj) fid) 



ERNST KRACKOWIZER. 25 

felbft 3ufd)reiben burfte, benu^te er mefenttid), urn erne genauere Slnnafyerung 
ber dr}tlid)en ^ntereffen anjubafynen, fcte auf ber einen <3eite burd) 2lmeri* 
faner, auf ber anbern burd) 3)eutfd)e oertreten murben. 2)a$ ift ein 23er= 
bienft, bag nid)t unterfd)dt3t merben barf, — benn in jener 3^t, bie fitr unS 
fdjon f (ange oergangen tft, baft mir aud) bte tei^te (Srrimterung baratt ber* 
(cren fyaben, gait e3 nod) manage 93orurtfyei(e 3U befettigen, unb manner 
(Stein muftte au8gebrod)en merben, bi8 eine 93refd)e in ber s lKauer entftanb, 
bie unS trennte. £)a§ aber bie (Sinigung eine fefte ift unb ba§ man mofyt 
meift, mer fie fyauptfddjtid) mb'gtid) mad)te, ba8 mirb ^fynen fyeute bemiefen 
burd) bte 2lnroefenf)eit uieter ber erften 9?amen, bie bie anterilanifde dr^tltdbe 
2Btffeufd)aft 9?etD^J)crf'S Jteren, unb burd) baS gegenfeittge $erftdnbnig unb 
genteinfame 2Irbeiten, bag jeber £ag auf^umeifen fyat. 

SBaren e$ tann aber bie gldnjenben mebi^tnifd^en (£igenfd)aften atfein, 
bie bent ®efd)iebenen ben 9?uf eineS grofeen ^Ir^teS bradrten? 2Bar eg nur 
umfaffenbeS 2Btffen, forgfam oerroertfyete (Srfabrung, ©idjerfyeit int (Srfen* 
nen unb ©dmelligfeit in ber 2lnmenbung beS s J?btt)igen, maS ifyn iiber 2lnbere 
erfyob ? 9cein ! 2)arin gibt e§ feineS ©tetd)en, menn aud) ntd)t oiele. 
2lber ja^ten ©ic aOe bie (5i)arafter^(Sigenfd)aften ^in^u, bie fie oon bem 
Sftanne oertangen, in beffen §anb ber ^ranfe fein £eben tegte, unb ©te 
merben !eine oermiffen. $n einer $ett, in ber bem (Srfotge 2ltle$ gecpfert 
mirb, in ber bie ©ud)t fyerrfd)t, fid) oe^ubrdngen unt jeben ^3rei8, fei e8 
aud) burd) SO^ittet, bie nicbt ben 5tnfcrberungen ftrenger (Sc^ren^afttgfett ent= 
fpredjen, ftanb biefer 9ftann in oorberfter Dfoifye ber Unantaftbaren, bie fid) 
bem @trom entgegenftemmen unb beren ftarfe §anb fd)on $D?and)en Don 
bem brofyenben 23erfaft rettete. 

Unb roeit er fo ftar! mar in feinem 9?ed)t§gefit£)t, folgte er aud) fo frei 
bem anbern innerften 3 U 9^ feiner abeltgen 9?atur unb mar fyuman unb 
pietdtootl, mie fein 3 rDe iter. 9?ie fyat ein 5tqt mit freunbtidjcrer ©elaffen* 
fyeit bie SHagen ber §iitfefud)enben gefybrt, nie cor Wzm (Siner, fo mie er, 
3) en e n gelaufdjt, bie befyaftet maren mit ben fd)timmften 3mei @ebred)en, 
©iedtfyum be$ StbrperS unb 2Irmutf). 

@o lag uber bem gan^en 9ftenfd)en bie 28eif)e ber §armonie. — feinem 
3)erer, bie nafye mit it)m oerfefyrten ift je ber ©ebanle gefomnten, ficb i^m 
gteia) 3U fteClen, aber aua) Reiner braud)t fid) ben ^Sormurf 3U madjen, bag 
4 



26 IN MEMORY OF 

er tfyn berlteren mu§te, um tlm fcfya^en ^u lemen. ©letdjaltrtgen ber treucfte 
$reunb, ben ^iingeren ber mofyltoollenbfte Sftatfyer, 2lden ber ^itfyrer $ur 
©elbfterfenntmg unb ^erfcoflfommmmg. (5r fyat un§ nur fparttdbe 2luf* 
^etdmungen fytnterlaffen in (^cfcrtft nnb 23udfy, — aber fetn gan$e8 Seben tear 
ein 33ud) unb auf jeber ©cite ftanben golbene Sefyren. @etn 2lnben!en tmrb 
un$ fyetltg fetn, unb moge Wtn, bte tfyn jum 93etfptel nefymen, nte ba$ 
frtfdje @elbftt?ertrauen fefylen, au3 bent alletn £uft unb Stebe unb greubtg* 
fett, jum Seben unb SStrlen qutden- 

3$ fyabe mtt einem alten ©prucfy begonnen, laffen @tc mtcfy mit einem 
eben fo efyrtoiirbtgen enben, — mtr ift er boppelt tfyeuer, toetl id) ifyn juerft 
burdfy fetnen Sttunb lernte. @8 finb nun 13 3afyre fyer, ba fcfylog (Srnft 
Sfracfotm^er bet bem fiinfjafyrtgen ©ttftungSfefte be8 beutfefyen £>t3penfarto 
bte toebe be$ 2lbenb$ mtt folgenbem 2Borte : 

„93or Mem aber Dergeffen @tc bet alien ©dfytmertgfetten, benen nnr be* 
gegnen, bet alien (Snttaufdmngen, bte un$ bet unferer 2lufgabe ntcfyt erfyart 
toerben fimnen, bte 9#afynung ntdjt, bie au$ bem tteftnnerften §erjen be$ 
23olfe$ un8 juruft : 

„£ljue ba3 ®ute, tirirf e3 tn'S 9fleer, 
©eljn'S nidfot He 8fif$e, e$ ftety e$ ber £err !" 



ADDRESS OF ELIOT F. HALL, ESQ. 
Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen: 

We have assembled this evening, on an occasion of un- 
usual solemnity, to give expression to our feelings of regret 
at the loss of one of the most eminent and respected of our 
number, to sympathize with his afflicted family and friends, 
to commemorate his private and his public virtues, and to 
gather, as 1 trust, from his example, fresh courage and 
strength for the trials and duties of life. 

A bright and shining light disappeared from our vision 
when Dr. Krackowizer was taken away, and the hearts of 



ERNST KRACKOWIZER. 2J 

multitudes who knew and honored him were touched with 
profound sadness and sorrow. 

It does not belong to me to speak of his fame as a physi- 
cian and surgeon, or of his successes in the field of scientific 
inquiry. Nor shall I dwell upon those qualities of mind and 
heart which made him the favorite and ornament of the 
social circles in which he moved. I desire to call your atten- 
tion for a few moments to his career as a private citizen of 
this, his adopted country. He did not come to the United 
States to make a temporary sojourn here, merely to try a 
few experiments in American life. Nor did he come here 
to amass a fortune and then return with it to Germany. 
But having a faith in our institutions that was stronger than 
any material considerations, he chose this for his permanent 
home. He cast his lot with us, as one of us, " for better, 
for worse," as long as life should last. Hence, he was as 
thorough-going an American, and he planted his foot as 
firmly upon the soil of this country as if it had belonged to 
his ancestors for hundreds of years. And yet he was just 
as good a German as he was an American. He did not 
surrender his convictions and predilections in matters of 
education, science, and art, social and domestic life, which he 
acquired in the land of his birth, and there was no good 
reason why he should make any such surrender. But as he 
had chosen this as the field of his labors, so he kept his heart 
here ; and this was the center of all his hopes and expecta- 
tions, his aspirations and ambitions, for himself, and for 
everything that was his. 

A great deal is said about the rights and privileges of the 
citizen, and the duty of # the government in protecting and 
enforcing them. But very few among us appear to have 
adequate ideas of the duties and responsibilities of the 



28 IN MEMORY OF 

citizen in making the government what it ought to be. The 
prevailing sentiment seems to be, that all one has to do as 
a citizen is to identify himself with one of our political par- 
ties, adopt its traditions, its maxims, its symbols and its 
manifestoes, and then, if he exercise the elective franchise 
at all, to vote for its candidates, whoever and whatever they 
may be. The life of our deceased friend stands out in strik- 
ing contrast to these ideas, and for this very reason it affords 
a profitable subject for us to study, and a worthy example 
for us to follow. In this connection, I desire to make special 
mention of the active and intelligent interest which was uni- 
formly manifested by him in the course and conduct of our 
government, both state and national, and in the administra- 
tion of public affairs. He never held a political office, and I 
am not aware that he was ever a candidate for one. And 
yet it could not be said of him that he kept himself aloof 
from the politics of the day. He distinguished himself, but 
he did not bury himself in his profession. Some of our 
American friends have been discussing the question, 
whether there is any place for the scholar in the politics 
of this country. I point them to the career of this ac- 
complished German-American gentleman, and I say to 
them : Behold a scholar in our politics ! We know 
very well, how trying, how irksome and disagreeable it 
is for a man of refinement and culture, of delicate tastes 
and sensibilities, to leave his books and studies, his fire- 
side companions and enjoyments, and sally out into the 
stormy field of political strife, and labor and toil there in 
the face of so many discouragements, instructing and elevat- 
ing, guiding and directing the masses of the people. And 
it is a melancholy fact, that such men in this country almost 
invariably shrink from the sacrifice and turn away. But the 



ERNST KRACKOWIZER. 29 

life which we are contemplating presents a gratifying and 
enviable exception to the prevailing rule. We have here a 
pattern of patriotism and heroism, which is much more 
needed in the times in which we live than the models of 
those virtues which have come down to us from classical an- 
tiquity. Dr. Krackowizer made the theory and practice of 
our government, and of government in general, the subject 
of diligent and conscientious study. He accordingly formed 
his opinions upon the public and political questions of the 
day, independently, and without reference to party con- 
siderations, and he had the courage to make his political ac- 
tion harmonize with his convictions. He was not accustomed 
to temporize with questions of expediency. He never com- 
promised with wrong or oppression, or injustice or corruption, 
in any shape or under any guise. He never made obeisance 
or bent the knee to arbitrary, illegitimate power, either in 
the old world or in the new. His mode of treatment of 
evils and abuses, and diseases in the body politic was 
thorough and radical. He was always at his post in the 
front rank of every great movement for reform, and he lived 
to witness the realization in his native and in his adopted 
country, of much that he had struggled to accomplish for the 
cause of human rights and human progress. 

And now, in concluding these remarks, if I were permitted 
to speak a few words on behalf of this audience, to those who 
were nearest and dearest to our departed friend, I should say : 
The offerings which we bring to this occasion, as a testi- 
monial to him, are very plain and very simple. They are 
not accompanied with the splendor and circumstance, the 
pomp and pageantry of place and power. But they are the 
voluntary tribute of genuine esteem and affection flowing 
from thousands of sincere and honest hearts. We have 



30 IN MEMORY OF 

received as our inheritance from him, rich treasures of 
precious memories and choice examples. We may not be 
able to equal his attainments or his achievements. But we 
shall go hence, inspired with the desire and the purpose to 
bring our daily lives up nearer and nearer to the standard 
which he set for himself, and which he left to us all. 



dttbt beS §emt (£arl <Sd)UQ> 

(S3 finb mtr rmr fefyr toenige emfadje 2Borte ertaubt, urn bem braoen 
Statute, beffen loir fyeute gebenfen, ben SErtbut trauernber $reunbfd)aft ju 
joffcn. 2Son ben £obten nur ®ute8 ^u foremen, tft bte attc @ttte. 2lber 
ber mug in ber STfyat cm braoer Sftann getoefen fetn, toon bem totr, ofme 
btefe alte ©ttte |U oerte^en, nad) bem £obe nur ba§ m fagen braudfyen, toaS 
totr toafyrenb fetneS SebenS toon tfym gebad)t. SBer btefem £obten bte 2ob= 
rebe fyaft, fyat md)t$ 3U toergeffen, ntd)t8 3U befdjonigen, ntcfytS m itbertretben. 
£)aS trenefie SBtlb btefeS SftanneS, tote mtr u)n gefcmnt, bletbt tfym baS 
fcfyonfie SDenfmal. 

£>enfen @te fid? ben s Jftcmn ber 2Btffenfd)aft, fo, tote totr ttyn am ttebften 
fefyen. 50ttt unermiibltcfyem ©ireben unb untoanbetbarer £reue fud)t er bte 
2Bafyrtjett urn tfyrer felbft totUen. S)em 2)tenft btefer 28afyrfyett entfrembet 
tfm !ein fetbftfitdjttgeS Sntereffe. Wit 23efdjetbenfyett oerfimbet er ba$ 
@e(bft*@efunbene ; nut fufynem (Srnft toertrttt er bte getoonnene Ucoerjcu* 
gung. 2)em ©treben Wnberer retdjt er frcubtg bte §anb; frembeS $erbtenft 
erlennt er nettloS an, oft nut ^ergeffen be8 etgenen. ©em Stiffen unb 
^bnnen toetfyt er treu bem 3)tenft ber ftrebenben unb letbenben 9Wenfd$ett; 
an ftcfy felbft bentt er jute^t, unb ©efunbfyett unb Seben finb tfym !etn ut 
tfyeureS Otofer. ©em ^3fUd)tgefiu)t tft feme etn^tge groge 2etbenfd)aft: e8 ift 
ju forfd>en, $u ratten, ^u fyetfen. 2Benn tcfy mtr btefen Sftann ber 2Btffen= 
fdfyaft benle, fo erfcfyemt mtr unter ben (Srftcn ba$ 33tlt> beffen, ben mtr fyeute 
betrauern. 

2)cn!en fie fid) ben 23ttrger, tote ber frete ©taat tfm bebarf. 2Utf bem 
^Pfabe be$ 2Btrfen8, auf ben tfyn gafytgfett, ^uft ober ©djtcffat gefitfyrt, ge= 



ERNST KRACKOWIZER. 3t 

fyorcfyt cr mit fcfyaffenbem f$(etg unb ernfter £reue ber ©timme be8 93erufg. 
s 2lber nut toacbfantem $luge oerfolgt er ftet« aud) bic ^PfUcfyt, bie bent (Sin* 
$elnen baS gemeinfame Sntereffe oer ©efamnttbett aufertegt. Dime 93or* 
uracil unb ©elbftfudjt, mit patriotifcber ©orge filr ba% ($emeintocfyt unb 
mit fyetlem 93 lief bilbet er feine s ifteinungen unb todfytt er ^totfdjen ben ^ar* 
teien. 2Bo unb toann e$ ber bffentltdjen &ad)t $u bienen gilt, ift er 3U 
toirffamer Arbeit bereit, gteidjoiel ob biefe s 2lrbeit aud; nur eine befd)eibene 
fei, gleidjotel ob fie raefyr Dpfer forbere, ober mefyr (Sfyre bringe. ©elbft 
SBerleumbung unb geinbjebaft fcfyeut er nid)t in ber (Srfitflung ber ^Pfltdjt, 
baS ®ute tfydttg $u forbern unb ba8 ©cfylecfyte fiilm 3U befdmpfen. @o 
nnrb er ber SJtenge, toeldje bie 9?euu)eit feiner s D£otioe fitfylt, ein natiirliajer 
gitfyrer burcfy fein Seifpiet fotoofyl alS feinen 9?atfy, unb bag ©emeimoefen 
fiefyt auf ifyn, al$ eine feiner ftdrfften fittlicfyen ©tii^en. 9ftaten @ie ©idj 
ba§ 25tlb biefeS 93iirgerg aug, unb in ifym finben @ie bie 3^9 e ftieber, bie 
unS an bent SDafn'ngefcfyiebenen fo oertraut getoefen. 

£)enfen ©ie fid; ben 9ttenfd)en enbticfy, rote tt)ir ifym at$ einent greunbe 
gem bie §anb reicfyen mogen, S£reu unb reblicfy ift er int ^er^en, f° ba § 
(eine 9?ebe ftetS ber toafyre (Spiegel feiner ©efinnung bletbe. 2)ie (Sfyre ift 
ifym tfyeurer a(8 aQer @ett>inn ; nicfyt b i e (Sfyre, bie im ertoorbenen i*obe 
au3 anberer Sftunbe ober in gldn3enber ©tellung beftefyt, fonbern bie toafyre 
innere (Sfyre, bie felbft ba3 gefyeime Unrest al$ erniebrigenbe ©cfyanbe fiifytt. 
$ein ©cfymeicfyter ift er, aber ftetS ju gerea)ter unb ermutfyigenber 2lnerfen~ 
nung freubig bereit; !ein lteblo8 fdjneQer £abter, aber freimiitfyig im 
gerecfyten 9#einung3auSbrucf iiber ba3 StabelnStoertbe, tt)enn bie 9?uge 
©uteg ftiften !ann. S^etn £eiben finbet U)n unroittig $ur §tilfe. $ur ^ a * 
tur getoorben ift ifym ba8 tyer^licfye 9Jfttgefiu)t, ba$ burd; Xfyeilung unfere 
greucen mefyrt unb unfere Xrauer minbert. ©elbft in ben oemurrenbften 
©tiimten be§ 2eben§ finben toir in eine$ foldjen 9)canne3 greunbfefyaft 
ftcfyern 2ln!ergrunb. 9?atfy unb §iilfe oon i^m finb boppelt Irdftig, roett fie 
fo efyrlicfy lommen, unb mit ber greigebigfeit ber ea^ten 2)?enfd)enttebe bietet 
er ftetS me^r, al8 er fitr fia) felbft oertangt. 

£)a8 ift ba8 SBtlb be§ DJcenfa^enfreunbeS, bem n>ir gem in'S 5Iuge fe^en, 
unb in biejem 33itte finben toir mieberum ba§ oerforperte 3Befen unb Seben 
be§ 9J?anne8, beffen 53erluft toir ^eute beflagen. 



32 IN MEMORY OF 

(So ftanb er 5IC(en em 55orfeiIb M, alg unermiibliaVr §effer mit ben 
bittern ber 2Biffen[d)aft, bte fetn fdjaffenber ©etfl unablafftg bereidjerte; 
alg S3itrger r ber, fo toeit feine @timme Kang, em 2ftann aflgemeinen 55er= 
traueng tourbe, toeil er nut fyeflem SBlttf unb felbfttog patriotifajem ©inn bag 
9fad)te erfannte, unb nut efyrenfyafter, cpfernnfliger 9J?annfyaftigfeit bag 
9fad)te tfyat ; alg ^Pfleger unb $brberer beg ®uten unb ©rfyebenben tm ge* 
feUfcfyaftttcfyen &6en, ber aflem oerebelnben ©treben ermutfyigenb unb toerf= 
tfyatig bte §anb bot, unb in toeitem Stretfc burd) leuifelige Hnregung unb 
eigneg 53etfpie( bag 2td)t fyofyerer ©efittung oerbrettete. 

@o fyaben ifyn Xaufenbe gefannt, unb alg fotcfyer toirb er Oon £aufenben 
betrauert. 2Bag aber ift er erft benen getoefen, bie bag ©titcf fatten, ifym 
naber $u ftefyen, — benen er aHe bie ©a)a£e feiner ebetn, fyerrlid)en S^atur 
ritdfyaltglog auffd)lo§, — bie ftdj erfreuen lonnten an bem tiefen ©emutfy, 
bag oon loarmer 9Jcenfd)enliebe fo ootl toar, — an bem reidjen ©eifte, tote 
er fein mandjfaltigeg sBBiffcn unb feine fdjbpferifa^e ©ebanfenfraft in oer* 
trautem (9efprad)e augftrbmte, — an bent fprubelnben junior, ber bie Xrau= 
rigfeit fetbft erfyeiterte unb bem Srodenen bunteg Seben gab, — an bem 
treffenben 28i£, ber leud)tete, ofyne oerle^enb ^u brennen! 

(Sr U)ar feine oon ben (Srjdjeimmgen, benen bie (Sntfernung grbfteren 
3auber tett^t. 3fyn beffer fennen, £>teg tt)rt fybfycr fcbdijen unb marmer lieben, 
unb nur bie nadjfte 23etracfytung enttyiittt ung bie gan^e ©rbge beg 93erlufteg. 

2Bir fyaben einen ed)ten 2ftenfd)en oerloren, unb oor Client ^iemt eg ung, 
ben frembgeborenen 33iirgern biefeg SanbeS, eineg folcben 3Jcanneg 5lnbenfen 
3U efyren. Wit ©tofy lagt ung itm ben (Singeborenen ^eigen: ben (Sfyarac* 
ter, attf bem lein ©fatten rufyt; ben @eift, ber fyett unb fa)bpferifd) nur 
©uteg erfann; bag §er$, bag fceubig fiir bag 2Bot){ fitter fcfylug; bieg 
£eben fo reia) an ebeln $mdtn unb fegeng reiser SBtrffamfett. 5118 ben 
9?eprafentanten beg ©eften, toag in ung ift, biirfen toir ifyn nut ©etbftgefiifyl 
ben unferen nennen, toabrenb er 5lden gefybrte. 2Benn er aud} im (Srabe 
liegt, alg folder bleibt er ung. 3)ie SHage, bag er oon ung fdjieb, fei 00H 
oon 2)anfbarfeit bafiir, bag n>ir i^n befagen. ^Boljt benen oon ung, bie, 
toenn t^re te^te ©tunbe fommt, gteta^ ii?m in bem 33eiougtfein fa^eioen lon= 
nen, baft ifyr i'eben fiir bie, unter benen fie getoanDett, ein fetter ©egen 
toar. 



ERNST KRACKOWIZER. 33 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 

OF 

ERNST KRACKOWIZER, M. D. 

ADDRESS DELIVERED BEFORE THE NEW YORK ACADEMY OF MEDICINE IN THE 
STATED MEETING OF NOVEMBER 4TH, 1875. 

BY A. JACOBI, M. D. 



Allow me, Mr. President, to offer this expression of my 
gratitude for the honor you conferred upon me when you 
permitted me to speak before this Academy in memory of 
Dr. Ernst Krackowizer. I am well aware that you appointed 
me for this office, sacred and dear to me, for no peculiar 
fitness of mine, but out of regard for our deceased friend, 
who for nearly twenty years both honored and benefited me 
by his intimate and unwavering friendship. With this 
knowledge, and from this point of view, I have gladly 
accepted the opportunity to speak of Dr. Krackowizer 
before this Academy, for which he worked so assiduously and 
effectively, and which he both loved and graced so much. 
With no scientific society was he more intimately connected, 
for none did he more permanently strain his many powers, 
and none deserves more than this Academy to cherish and 
5 



34 IN MEMORY OF 

refresh the memory of one who cannot be forgotten, because 
it will be no mean task to fill his vacant chair. 

You remember, Mr. President, that Dr. Krackowizer, in 
the last year or two of his life, while nobody ever saw him 
flagging or faltering in the performance of his many duties, 
looked less strong and hearty than in former times. His 
features were often haggard, and an expression of wearisome 
care and overwork shaded his brows. His most intimate 
friends looked upon him with uneasiness and sorrow, and 
would express, sometimes, their fear lest some acute disease 
would not find in him sufficient vitality and power of resist- 
ance. Their anxieties were awakened, when, in the early 
part of July, he looked paler and more exhausted than ever, 
and when he was compelled to desist from working half a 
day, from time to time. Still, he was about. Up to the 9th 
of August, he was in steady, anxious attendance upon an old 
and intimate patient, who died at that time, and whose 
autopsy he superintended and partially performed. That 
was his last effort. Every one present at the funeral re- 
marked that he was sick ; after the funeral, he went to his res- 
idence in Sing Sing, never to return to this city, the field of 
his labors and honors. 

His typhoid fever, although it preyed upon his mind con- 
siderably, and depressed and discouraged him much, took a 
very favorable course. There was in due time enlargement 
of the spleen and roseola, there were the regular tempera- 
ture curves, there was a little catarrhal diarrhoea in the begin- 
ning, and again some diarrhoea on the ninth or tenth day, 
but there were no bronchial symptoms of much account, 
absolutely no delirium, no very high temperatures, and no 
frequent pulse. During all the first three weeks of his sick- 
ness the thermometer never ranged above 104^, his pulse 



ERNST KRACKOWIZER. 35 

never rose above eighty-eight. Convalescence commenced, 
there was no fever, and twice was he out of bed, enjoying 
the outlook over the green lawn and the shadows of the 
trees, and the sunbeam playing on the foliage, as only he 
could, with his intense love of the eternal beauties of nature. 
About the 7th of September, he was taken with diarrhoea, 
which soon reduced what little strength he had. Some ac- 
tive treatment was commenced soon, and in a day or two he 
appeared to improve. A new attack of diarrhoea, more 
severe than before, set in on the 12th. From that time 
he began to sink, the diarrhoea became uncontrollable, occa- 
sional darting pains, peritonize, made their appearance, 
pressure became painful here and there ; finally, on the 
16th,. his stomach refused to accept a sufficient supply 
of food. Henceforth, the question was only one of time 
and favoring circumstances. If his digestive powers would 
suffice to sustain him until his diarrhoea could be effectually 
stopped, he might live ; not otherwise. He knew it as well 
as his physicians. He spoke of it more quietly, more con- 
vincingly, than his physicians dared to fear. No Socrates 
ever spoke of his approaching death with more equanimity 
than Krackowizer, whenever the subject was mentioned. 
Only, Socrates did not suffer pain long weeks before he died, 
and his brain and mind were not influenced by a long sick- 
ness "when he conversed about death in his dying hours. 
Krackowizer had to suffer from the agonizing symptoms of 
■his entero-peritonitis, after having been enfeebled by his pre- 
vious sickness, up to the hour of his death. Before a few 
quiet minutes closed that wonderfully active and harmonious 
life, he suffered severely, all the time preserving the clearness 
of his mind and the goodness of his heart. In his last hours, 
now and then, while always suffering intensely, he would 



36 IN MEMORY OF 

speak of something to be looked after when he would be 
gone, had a word of pity for a friend who would badly miss 
him, or a smile for a child whom he would send out of the 
room, to spare her the agony of seeing such a father die. 
Finally, he succumbed in the afternoon of the 23d of Sep- 
tember. 

About half a year ago, Dr. Krackowizer, in a conversation 
with a friend, touched upon the usual forms of referring to 
the deceased members of medical and other societies. The 
customary expressions of esteem and regret, the appreciation 
of the inscrutability of Providence appeared to him more than 
superfluous. Everything monotonous, habitual, and there- 
fore unmeaning and unspiritual, he revolted againstl Never 
appreciating or acknowledging that he was one of those 
whose brow had been touched by the genius of intellectual 
and moral superiority, it could not enter his mind that what 
would be words of sympathy, it is true, but words only in 
the cases of many other men, would be words borne out by 
the spirit of holy truth in his own case. He went so far as 
to say that, if ever he knew his death to approach, he would 
rather resign all his honors and memberships than expose 
the large number of societies to which he belonged to the 
necessity of drawing up and publishing a string of preambles 
and resolutions. He has not succeeded in acting upon this 
idea of his. If he had, it would have made no difference. It 
was quite consistent with both the greatness and the modesty 
of that man to avoid display, but it was also consistent with 
the good sense of the public, the general sorrow, the univer- 
sal appreciation of his worth and services, that the expres- 
sions of sympathy, of sorrow, poured in after he was dead. 
Hundreds of men of all ranks and stations — men of science, 
medical men, merchants, poor workmen, crowded the quiet 



ERNST KRACKOWIZER. 37 

thoroughfares of the far-off village in which he died and 
found his resting-place — a score of societies and corporations 
gave official expression to the deep sense of their bereave- 
ment — four thousand persons filled Steinway Hall to over- 
flowing when the public at large honored themselves by 
honoring the memory of the man whose loss every one 
deplores as his own. And to-night, the medical profession 
of the city has assembled to listen to a few words, which, if 
they could claim anything, would endeavor to claim but one 
merit — that of absolute simplicity and truthfulness. In the 
case of this man nothing is required but to relate his life. 
No eulogy will ever reach the eloquence of his life and death. 
To tell the story of the life of a great and good man in the 
presence of the old, for them to remember and enjoy; of the 
young, for them to admire and profit by, is to preach the best 
of sermons. 

Ernst Krackowizer was born on the 3d of December, 1821, 
in " Spital am Pyhrn " — hospitium at Montem Pyhrn, as it is 
called in old annals — a small town in Upper Austria. His 
father, Ferdinand, was an officeholder under the imperial 
government, in very moderate circumstances ; of liberal polit- 
ical principles, and therefore suspected and neglected by 
those in power ; of a high order of intellect, and given to 
philological and historical studies, and therefore connected 
with many authorities in the domain of learning and science. 
He died at the age of forty-nine, in 1826. His mother, Therese 
Richter, a modest and cultured woman, died at the age of 
seventy-two, in 1 867. He had five brothers and one sister, who 
died at the age of thirteen years. After the death of her hus- 
band, Mrs. Krackowizer moved to Kremsmiinster, a larger 
town, with a " gymnasium " (college), in order to increase the 
opportunities of her sons for a thorough education. There 



38 IN MEMORY OF 

it was that Ernst Krackovvizer completed his preliminary 
and classical studies, before, in 1840, he matriculated in the 
medical faculty of the University of Vienna. 

Here he ^oon obtained an enviable reputation as a thor- 
ough student. Endowed with a remarkable memory, rapid 
perception, and clear judgment, he commanded the respect of 
his teachers for his accomplishments. His genial disposition, 
earnestness of purpose, readiness of wit, and sparkling 
humor endeared him to his fellow-students, whose regard 
and love for him increased almost to fanaticism. While 
thus combining study and enjoyment, he neglected none of 
the many qualities of his richly-gifted nature. The first 
impressions of his childhood and youth were such as to 
awaken all the best instincts of a young being. Upper 
Austria, with its forests, mountains, and valleys, stretching 
from the Danube to the Alps, is one of the most beautiful 
countries of the globe. Its population, thoroughly German, 
is one of the most genial and poetical. Popular song and 
poetry embellish the existence of rich and poor alike. Here 
it was that Ernst Krackowizer was first imbued with his 
undying love of nature on one hand; on the other, with that 
of music, and art in general, and his warm affection for and 
participation in the life of the people. Thus, with all 
the warmth of his heart, and the spiritual tendencies of his 
mind, he proves to the last the observation of philosophers, 
that the individual is the product, to a great extent, of the 
circumstances he lives in ; and of historians, that nations are 
shaped by their soil, and environs, and climate. Here it was 
also where Krackowizer contracted his predilection for phys- 
ical exercise. Twelve times, in the autumn vacations, would 
he travel on foot, knapsack on his shoulders, over valleys 
and mountains, from the Danube to Venice ; over the Alps, 



ERNST KRACKOWIZER. 39 

through Hungary and Croatia; always collecting zoological 
and botanical specimens, studying the country and people, 
strengthening his body, and enriching his mind. Many times, 
in later years, would he refer to these meanderings, never 
forgetting the name of any mountain peak he had climbed, 
and remembering the passes, and by-ways, and traveling 
incidents, with remarkable fidelity. 

The third year of his studies he passed in Pavia, where he 
was drawn in part by his desire to learn the Italian language, 
more, however, by his poetical longing for the country where 
Horace smiled and Petrarca sung, where Roman greediness 
and success accumulated untold treasures of science and art, 
and each field is glorified with the tales of German victories 
and defeats. His fourth and fifth years were again spent in 
Vienna, where he graduated. At this period of his life, he 
gained the first-fruits of his superior intellect and hard work, 
in being admitted to the special operative course, under the 
supervision, at that time, of one of the greatest European sur- 
geons — Professor Schuh. This course lasted two years, after 
which time he moved from Vienna to a small town, Steyer, 
for the purpose of engaging in medical and surgical practice. 
But, after a very few months, Professor Schuh requested him 
to become his clinical assistant. Thus he again appeared in 
Vienna, the joy of his old teacher, the pride of his former fel- 
low-students, the example of the younger men. Schuh was 
no longer his professor, he was his friend. He took him into 
his family, he made him accompany him on his extensive 
tours through Germany, Sweden, Norway, and Italy. In all 
of these countries he made warm friends amongst the celebri- 
ties of the time, all of whom admired the character, the 
knowledge, the spirit of the young physician and surgeon, 
whose enthusiasm was equaled only by his powers. He was 



40 IN MEMORY OF 

at that time the first person on whom the anaesthetic influ- 
ence of chloroform was tried in Vienna, in the amphitheater 
of the surgical clinic. 

The year 1848 drew near. The thunder-storm which raged 
over Europe reached Vienna first of all the great capitals of 
Europe, after Paris had fired the first revolutionary cannon. 
No one here, unless he has made a special study of the history 
of that time, can imagine the fire of enthusiasm lit up in the 
young hearts of the nation. If you remember the trembling 
excitement, the daring, the longing, the surprise, the cour- 
age, the wild enthusiasm, the holy fire of that far-off day, when 
every brick in New York City was covered with flags, when 
there was no trading, and cheating, and note shaving in New 
York City, but a sacred rage in the hearts of the people, and 
the consciousness of great needs and the approach of great 
deeds — I speak of the day after the fall of Fort Sumter was 
known to have occurred — if you remember that time, when the 
crusade for the restoration of the Union was preached on all 
corners and from all roofs — you have an idea of the spirit which 
animated and emboldened the youth of Germany and Austria. 
The best of the nation no longer in the lecture-rooms or the 
shops, but on the barricades or the battle-fields. The greater 
the previous rottenness or corruption, the more powerful the 
reaction in favor of political freedom and liberal institutions. 
The longer the sleep, the more rapid and vigorous the wak- 
ing up. The young men of the universities, with their culture 
and enthusiasm, were the special and universal hope and 
pride of the masses. Wherever they meant to be so, they were 
the leaders of the political movements. Thus it occurred 
that, for some time, in the days of September and October, 
1848, the students of Vienna, with a few older friends, most 
of them also connected with the university, were the masters 



ERNST KRACKOWIZER. 4 1 

and leaders and advisers of a vast empire. For, at that time, 
as Paris has always been the spiritual center of France, the 
soul of all Austria was in the great hall of the University of 
Vienna. 

Is it necessary to say on which side in that contest Ernst 
Krackowizer was to be found? That he participated in the 
revolution? < 

No ; he did not participate, he led. The example of the 
medical classes, the superior savan, the dexterous opera- 
tor, became the example and a leader of the revolutionists. 
No more books and bistouries. Henceforth, the sword. Con- 
scious of what he was doing, he stood foremost among the 
organizers and leaders. Under the authority of General Bern, 
he commanded an important position on the walls of Vienna. 
His resistance to the besieging and, at last, conquering Croats 
was most persistent, and when he finally gave way, and laid 
down his arms, with his enthusiastic followers, he was amongst 
the last to give up opposition and hope. A few years ago, I 
entered, a stranger, the lecture room of Prof. Spaeth, in 
Vienna. Reading my card, he exclaimed : " You come from 
New York, you know Krackowizer." And with sparkling 
eyes he turned to his audience : " I was his lieutenant in 
those days. Tell us of him." 

From the battle-field he returned to the clinic. Then com- 
menced the lynching called martial law. The Austrian youth 
not fallen on the field of honor, were hunted down by the 
Croatians, who had saved what is called the throne. The 
blood of Blum, Messenhauser, and Jellinek had been shed, 
and still Krackowizer held out in the " Allgemeine Kranken- 
haus." But come they did, finally, and then, at last, he 
looked out for his safety. He escaped from Vienna, took 
refuge in the mountain home of his future father-in-law, fled 
6 



42 IN MEMORY OF 

from there over unknown parts into the Bavarian territory, 
thence to Frankfort, thence to Tubingen. In Tubingen he 
found friends. There he had been with his teacher and friend, 
Schuh, and had formed the acquaintance of Professor Victor 
von Bruns, who still enjoys his work and well-merited repu- 
tation. Professor Bruns made Dr. Krackowizer his clinical 
assistant, the university granted him the right to deliver lec- 
tures. The government, out of fear of Austria, objected, but 
the university insisted upon its right to make its own appoint- 
ments, in spite of the government. Thus he remained nine 
months, worked and taught, and formed acquaintances and 
friendships with the eminent men of all scientific circles, and 
of poets, such as Uhland and Schwab. But the days of the 
revolution were numbered. More and more increased the 
power of reactionary Austria, and the government of the 
small kingdom, Wurtemberg, was no longer able to resist 
Austria's demand for the extradition of Krackowizer. 
Timely warning came, and he fled north. In the lecture- 
rooms of the University of Kiel his voice was heard next. But 
the Schleswig-Holsteinian war, nominally a people's war, 
actually a war of Prussia and Austria against the last remnants 
of the revolutionary people, drew near its end. The Austrians 
approached, and Krackowizer, who had some time previously 
declined to accept the appointment of Medical Director of 
the Insane Asylum in Zurich, Switzerland, fled again. 

The revolution was doomed, the thrones were glued to- 
gether again with the blood of the cultured, self-sacrificing 
youth of the country. Thousands were still hunted down, the 
prisons were flowing over with the intelligence of the land ; 
high treason and lese-majesty were the pass-words which de- 
livered the flower of the martyred population into the hands 
of brutal beadles ; hundreds of thousands sought a refuge 



ERNST KRACKOWIZER. 43 

beyond the sea, — and then Krackowizer shook the dust off 
his feet and left for America, in May, 1850. In spite of the 
turmoil of battle-fields and constantly changing popula- 
tion, his name was one of the few which were still men- 
tioned when I trod the same ground in Kiel and Rends- 
burg, a few months afterwards. 

Thus Austria lost one of its best men, at a time when 
he and his like would have been most absolutely needed 
under the circumstances. 

And what was the condition of German medicine at that 
time, and particularly that of medicine at Vienna? 

Symptomatology and idealism had full sway in Ger- 
many and Austria in the early part of the century. 
The French had developed anatomical facts and principles, 
Laennec had discovered immortal maxims in the diagnosis 
of disease, not knowing any more than the Viennese them- 
selves, that he had had in the last century a successful pre- 
decessor in the person of the author of " Inventa Nova," the 
Austrian Auenbrugger. The only real progress in Germany 
which at that time brought forth Hahnemann's theory of 
the psora, and his wanton postulation of an axiomatic thera- 
peutical principle, was made by the physiologists, such as 
Reil, Autenrieth, Meckel, Rudolphi, and Burdach. Beside 
these encyclopaedists, there were monographers, such as ■ 
Tiedemann and Gmelin, with their investigations on digestion 
(1826); E. H. Weber, in his treatises on pulse, absorption, 
hearing, and sound (1834) ; W. Weber, with his book on the 
mechanics of the organs of walking ; and finally, Johannes 
Miiller, with his universal physiology and his special inves- 
tigations, histological and physiological. Chemistry also 
claimed prophetic and revolutionary powers ; but Liebig, its 
principal flag-bearer, was too much of an idealist and egotist 



44 IN MEMORY OF 

to grasp the immensity of medical science and its require- 
ments. Less than he has seldom a great and ambitious man 
succeeded in accomplishing for medicine. 

About that time, when the principal progress in medicine, 
which was accomplished all through Germany, consisted in 
translations of and criticisms upon foreign literature, there 
appeared in Vienna, a treatise by Professor Carl Rokitanski, 
on internal intestinal strangulations (1836) ; and in the same 
year an essay by Dr. Skoda, on percussion. Neither was much 
appreciated in either Austria or Germany, until, in 1 841, 
Wunderlich took them up, and proved that not only were 
new facts discovered by both, but, what was more important, 
new principles involved in their writings. Rokitanski studied 
not only the anatomical results of disease on his dissecting 
tables, but tried to obtain an insight into their genetic 
origin. At the same time, however, he was phantastic and 
easily carried away. The principal exaggeration on his part 
was the assumption of a number of pre-existing "erases," 
conditions of the blood, a doctrine which is still cherished 
by some of those who believe more in the use of glibly pro- 
nounced Greek terms than in a thorough insight into a 
pathological process. It is true, that he must not be held 
responsible for the croupous, albuminous, exanthematic, 
fibrinous, aphthous, and puerperal erases, but the first step in 
that direction was his, and would have been still more det- 
rimental, if it had not been for the above exaggerations, 
which carried their remedy with them. For Engel and others 
spared neither him nor his followers, and the process of puri- 
fication commenced in the very same Vienna which en- 
gendered the dangerous doctrine. Skoda was more positive 
and sober than Rokitanski. Guided by physiology and ex- 
perimental observation, he explained the symptoms of 



ERNST KRACKOWIZER. 45 

percussion and auscultation, and with the aid of medicinal 
agents he tried to correct and develop his views. But with 
all the reasoning powers and the immense knowledge at his 
command, here was his Philippi. The physiological action of 
medicines was not known at all; whatever we know of them 
at present, by experimentation and close observation, is of 
more recent date. Thus he saw, or appreciated, no effects. 
What he learned, or believed he had learned, he proclaimed 
with loud voice. Thus he is the original founder of that 
nihilism in therapeutics, which, especially in the hands of 
Dietl, and still more of Hammernjk, has contributed more 
than anything else — against right and reason — to carry the 
name of the Vienna school of medicine all over the world. 
This nihilistic tendency, however, was soon contested, and 
finally overcome. The medical world was soon aware that 
the principal claims of the Vienna school were not those 
based upon denying and breaking down, but upon what they 
built ; and the names of Rokitanski, Skoda, Kolletschka, 
Helm and Schuh, the original thinkers of that time, will 
live forever in the annals of medicine. Their time was one 
of revolution in both the scientific and the political world, 
and it was just that time in which Ernst Kracko- 
wizer studied and worked and taught in Vienna. In imme- 
diate contact with all the illustrious men around him, 
he participated in and criticized their results. Besides, 
his travels brought him into close relations with men and 
ideas of distant countries. Before he traveled, as early as 
1 841, Roser and Wunderlich, to this day a warm admirer 
of Krackowizer, had founded their " Journal of Physio- 
logical Medicine," on the principle that pathology was 
to be considered as nothing but the physiology of the sick. 
They were followed, in 1842, by Henleand Pfeuffer's " Journal 



46 IN MEMORY OF 

for Rational Medicine," and, 1844, the Prague "Quarterly 
for Practical Medicine." While these journals flourished, the 
old journals gave way before the new era, and no one was 
more anxious and fitted to grasp the results of universal ob- 
servations and discoveries than Krackowizer. He soon 
knew that the Vienna school was but. the offspring of the 
French school founded by Laennec, only more sober, estab- 
lished on better observed facts, and more consistently led 
by principles. He was soon aware, and remained so during 
his life, that no single school of medicine, no single doctrine 
in medicine can find the stone of the philosophers. There is 
no such thing as a " school " in exact sciences, as physics, 
mathematics, or astronomy. The more scientific medicine 
has become, the more have the claims of systems and schools 
exhibited their ridiculous weakness. He recognized no 
exclusive claim of " solidar " or " humoral" pathology, no ex- 
clusive rights on the part of physiology or chemistry, or a 
therapeutical system, or of the new discoveries in the pathol- 
ogy of the blood, or nerves, or cells; nor did he see a univer- 
sal boon in the increase of diagnostic perfection, or in the 
results of experimental therapeutics alone ; he knew through 
his whole career that man cannot be subsumed under the 
definitions of a school; human sufferings cannot be measured 
and explained by always the same methods, or relieved by 
the same means ; nor did he ever stoop to the golden calf of 
nihilism, and condemn the use of medicinal agents. Medicine 
was to him entitled to be both an exact science and a social 
and humane institution. While he studied and recognized 
man as a link of all creation, he revered medical science as 
comprehensively connected with all scientific facts, no mat- 
ter where found and whence collected. Thus, while he was 
eminently a humane and a practical man, in order to be so 



ERNST KRACKOWIZER. 47 

he was erudite, in the full meaning of the word. It was this 
erudition of his which proved one of the principal charms in 
his medical career. He was conversant with medical science 
in almost all its branches. Thus every word of his, when he 
participated in a discussion, was fraught with solid contents. 
In his views he was universal. He was just as removed 
from looking on medicine as a business as on a tissue of 
conjectures or possibilities, or a merely sentimental vocation. 
He was as well acquainted with the history of medicine as 
with the anatomical and physiological points of a diagnosis. 
For the embryology of medical science was of as much im- 
portance to him as that of the human being. He thought 
just as little of men who did not care for the fathers of med- 
icine as he would have thought of an American who did not 
know the fathers of his country. For George Washington 
and Jefferson are of no vaster importance, politically, in the 
history of the world, than Harvey or Bell in that of medi- 
cine. 

When Dr. Krackowizer had to flee from Vienna and leave 
Germany, the Vienna school was in the zenith of its reputa- 
tion. The illustrious names of Rokitanski, Skoda, Helm, 
Schuh, Jaeger were household words among the medical 
men all over the globe. His loss was not the only one ; a 
number of young men disappeared with him, some never to 
be heard of again, some in distant countries. The blow re- 
ceived by the Vienna school in being deprived of the best 
of its young followers, it never outlived. Go to Vienna now 
and ask for illustrious names. With very few exceptions, 
you have again Rokitanski, and Skoda, and Hebra. The le- 
gitimate successor of Schuh would have been Krackowizer. 
In him there was the grasp of intellect and the breadth of 
character which make the equal of the greatest, and the ad- 



48 IN MEMORY OF 

miration of enthusiastic pupils. The other great surgical 
chair had to be filled by calling Billroth from a University 
of Switzerland ; nor could the chair of theory and practice be 
filled by an Austrian when its occupant died. They had to 
call Oppolzer from Leipzig, and after his death Bamberger 
from Wiirzburg. Many of the young men " who did not know 
of the Moses " of the Vienna school except from hearsay, 
who at the present time teach audiences and give private in- 
struction, are of a different character. Their great merit is 
to teach some young foreigners who go to Vienna for the 
purpose of brushing up, as the phrase goes, or of returning 
after a few months' drilling as eminent specialists in some 
" ology." That is in part the spirit of the University of 
Vienna, that the relic of the Titans of the old Vienna 
school. Neither the spirit of the " Aula," revolutionary in 
politics and science, nor that of the old guard, a few of 
whom, however, twenty-seven years after, are still at work 
amongst them. It is with unfeigned admiration that I here 
mention the fact, that, but lately, old, brave Rokitanski has 
published a large work on the congenital defects of the septa 
of the heart, in his old style and spirit. But the glory of old 
Vienna has passed away with its founders, since the wave 
of political reaction swallowed its best hopes. 

The spiteful persecution has emasculated science, as it has 
politics. Austria, as it had to import the men of science, 
had also to import a chancellor of the empire, a Protestant 
at that, from outside ; and the main political life developed 
since the young and talented had to flee for their lives or 
died in the dungeons, is that of discord and envy. The 
result is the same always and everywhere. Thus Prussian 
politics also are still at the mercy of one man, who does not 
know how to solve the question of principle involved in the 



ERNST KRACKOWIZER. 49 

battle between Church and State any better than by arbi- 
trary police measures, because his only opponents are, with 
few exceptions, those same names which belonged to mid- 
dle-aged men nearly thirty years ago. Such is the curse of 
driving into death or exile the flower of the nation. But 
the stones rejected by the builders have become corner- 
stones somewhere else. For two hundred years, European 
thrones were always saved, European communities were 
always deprived, in the interest of the cultivation and cul- 
ture of a new continent. 

Dr. Krackowizer arrived in New York on the 28th of 
June, 1850. He settled in Williamsburg, where he was 
married in 1851, and engaged in a rapidly-increasing prac- 
tice until he removed to New York, in the autumn of 1857. 
Here he resided a long time in 49 Amity Street, the last 
twelve years in 16 West Twelfth Street. His new office in 
138 West Thirty-fourth Street, he arranged completely, 
without ever being able to move into it. The medical men 
of Brooklyn soon learned the caliber of the man, and selected 
him for one of the surgical places in the Brooklyn City Hos- 
pital. There he served until his increasing engagements in 
New York prevented him from attending to his duties as 
only he knew how to serve. Then he resigned, and never 
have the Brooklyn surgeons parted with a colleague more 
unwillingly than at that time. He, however, was none of 
those who stick to a place or cling to an honor without 
repaying for it with more than a full equivalent of work. 

On the 1st of February, 1852, he joined Drs. Roth and 
Herczka, in the publication of the " New York Medical 
Monthly " (New Yorker Medicinische Monatsschrift), which 
was discontinued after a year, and forms a handsome volume 
of 388 pages. It was published in the German language, 
7 



50 IN MEMORY OF 

and was meant to circulate among the German physicians of 
this country and Europe. The cover of each number ex- 
plains part of the insufficient pecuniary success, which may 
have been one of the causes of its being discontinued. It 
has an announcement as follows : " Advertisements of book- 
sellers, apothecaries, dentists, instrument-makers, bandagists, 
and importers of instruments and bandages, and of every- 
thing connected with medicine, and agreeing with the dig- 
ity of our journal will be admitted." This is a condition 
which I have not seen printed since. The journal contained 
original papers, histories of important cases, clinical observa- 
tions, extracts, reviews, and criticisms, most of them of a 
superior order. Dr. Krackowizer's principal contributions 
were (p. 21), " History of a tumor vasculosus on the occiput 
of a child ; " " Improvement of the exarticulation in the an- 
kle-joint, with resection of the malleoli, according to Syme," 
(p. 58); " Staphyloraphy " (p. 120); " Detmold's treat- 
ment of pes valgus " (p. 142) ; u The modern views of 
syphilis" (p. 257) ; " Contributions to the diagnosis of her- 
nia " (p. 343). Amongst the clinical reports are those of 
cases treated in the clinics of Parker, Van Buren, Detmold, 
and others. The spirit of the journal may best be judged 
by the contents of a letter addressed to the German profes- 
sion of Europe, in the first number. It warns against the 
tendency, at that time prevailing in Europe, of underrating 
the position and merits of the American profession. While 
admitting the fact of our inferior opportunities and advan- 
tages, and the further fact that most of our colleges were 
private, and not always first class, institutions, it is urged 
that the very competition of the colleges has a tendency to 
improve their status. The letter closes as follows : " I have 
no doubt we shall soon have state-universities, which will 



ERNST KRACKOWIZER. 5 I 

have nothing like European compulsion, but will be free in- 
stitutions for the most advanced instruction. In this, again, 
the natural self-development of the American spirit exhib- 
its itself. It begins at the base, and culminates above. The 
political powers in Europe were interested in having ignorant 
masses and a few learned men ; for that reason the universi- 
ties were older than elementary schools. These latter had 
great pains in getting started. The universities organized 
elementary and higher schools on their own system and 
perverse principles. But in America, people thought first of 
initiating a general popular instruction ; they cared not so 
much for learned individuals as for a cultured people." 

What has been quoted explains most of Krackowizer's posi- 
tion in our midst. His appreciation of our institutions and 
maxims was eminently that of a philosopher who sees clearly 
and judges wisely. He felt that the distance of the two 
hemispheres had to be abolished by mutual understanding 
and esteem, and thus the journal he aided in starting and 
editing was published in the German language. Only such 
a reason could 'be found valid enough for that course. It is 
true he was eminently a German, his education and memo- 
ries were German : no country but Germany could have, at 
that time, produced the thorough savan,the enthusiastic re- 
former, the manly spokesman of truth and right. In his 
family, and with his most intimate friends, he spoke German ; 
in the interest of the preservation of the German language as 
an element of education in our public schools he was very 
active ; but he was, as he was universal in his knowledge, cos- 
mopolitan in principle and national in politics. From the 
time he landed here, to his death, he was an American, and 
the language of the country that which he considered the 
proper mode of communication with the people and the 



52 IN MEMORY OF 

profession. All of us knew how well and concisely and 
tersely he knew how to use it. And no man has used it to 
better advantage, not only to communicate his knowledge and 
thought, but also to connect the apparently incongruous ele- 
ments of which the profession is composed in a city which is a 
conglomerate of emigrants in the first, second or third genera- 
tion, and which, in many respects, is as much European as it is 
American. No man was ever more impressed with this fact, 
and with the other fact also, that the American, particularly 
the New York profession, although mostly speaking the Eng- 
lish language only, is eminently cosmopolitan. No man, more 
than he, appreciated so keenly the readiness with which for- 
eigners, particularly Germans, were received by the whole, 
and the individuals in the profession. In fact, I remember the 
time very well, and that time is not quite passed by yet, 
when the fact alone of being a German, supposed to come 
imbued with German knowledge and thought, sufficed to 
place a new-comer in the front ranks, honored for the sake 
not of himself, perhaps, but of the new ideas emanating from 
the great thinkers of his distant native land. And nobody 
complained more than he of the facility with which, some- 
times, arrogance and ignorance, when presented in German, 
commanded temporary respect or forbearance ; and nobody 
enjoyed more than he the frequent visits of young Ameri- 
cans on the other side of the Atlantic, where they learned 
the hard foreign dialect, studied at the very fountains, and 
returned in a more cosmopolitan spirit and with ripened judg- 
ment of things and men. Thus he was both a German and 
an American, more of a German thinker than he might have 
become in Germany, inasmuch as the mental food he en- 
joyed here was of a different character ; more of an American 
than many Americans, because American empiricism and 



ERNST KRACKOWIZER. 53 

practical ingenuity was in him rendered more humane and 
sacred by his German mode of reasoning and reducing to 
principles. In this mixture of the two great qualities of the 
two nations he saw the glory of American future. Philoso- 
pher as he was, he saw the two nationalities happily blended 
into one, their mode of feeling and thinking modified, forti- 
fied in the interest of human progress. Nor was he, with 
his statesmanlike views applied to small things and great 
alike, shaken in his friendly and optimistic hopes for the de- 
velopment of both the profession and the politics of America. 
What was it to him, who never sought an honor for the 
honor's sake, that the parading with names of a college for 
young gentlemen, instead of a school for boys, or emporium 
for a store, a lyceum for a society, the strutting with a pro- 
fessorial title, the parading of endless titles over worthless 
compilations, was unrepublican in principle as it was ridicu- 
lous in practice. What to him, that our custom here was 
less republican than those of learned societies in monarchical 
Europe, where men speak of and to each other as Mr. Vir- 
chow, and Mr. Rokitanski, and Mr. Broca; in all these exag- 
gerations he saw but the outgrowth of an inexperienced ambi- 
tion, which aims high, and an effervescence of activity, which 
has not settled down in quiet thinking and hard working. 
Nor, as he would always compare parts with the whole, did 
he believe, that in the course of development our republican 
principles and institutions would suffer although men would 
revel in " Captain" and " General," in " Honorable" and 
" Excellency," in European court decorations, in intimacies 
with doubtful counts or emperors. 

Such was the man who moved to New York in 1857, 
eighteen years ago. Since that time, he has been promi- 
nently before the profession. He belonged to many socie- 



54 IN MEMORY OF 

ties, was an officeholder in many — president in the Patho- 
logical. The Medical Society of the County of New York, 
the Academy of Medicine, the Pathological Society, the 
Medical Library and Journal Association, the New York 
Physicians' Mutual Aid Association, the New York Society 
for the Relief of Widows and Orphans of Medical Men, the 
New York Public Health Association, the American Med- 
ical Association, counted him on their lists of members until 
his death. For none did he work more than for the Patho- 
logical Society and this Academy. Year after year, in for- 
mer times, he was a regular visitor and contributor in the 
former, and in the latter he participated in the discussions 
frequently. It was he who opened the discussion on Pyaemia 
many years ago ; it was he, again, who contributed, by his 
sagacity and urbanity, much to the success of the Com- 
mittee of Ethics through many years, and was one of the 
most active members of the Committee on Ways and Means. 
This hall owes part of its existence to his efforts, his counsel, 
his pecuniary contribution. He will long be missed where- 
ever he worked ; for he always worked well and wisely, and 
successfully. 

Beside the work in the societies, much, or rather more, was 
given to public institutions. He was one of the surgeons 
pf the German Dispensary, and later the German Hospital, 
of the Mount Sinai Hospital, the New York Hospital, and a 
short time, in 1874 and [875, in Bellevue. Here he resigned 
very soon. The manner in which he did resign, and the 
reason why, are fresh in our memories, and there is not a 
man here, nor outside, whose respect for the upright and 
courageous man of principles has not been increased since. 
He was the ideal " knight, without fear and without re- 
proach." The confidence reposed in him was never shaken. 



ERNST KRACKOWIZER. 55 

The best men considered it both an honor and a pleasure to 
be connected with him, and the Government sought his ser- 
vices repeatedly. He served during the war as Special 
Inspector of Hospitals, and was twice at the seat of war 
when eminent surgical aid was needed and solicited. 

All of this is well known. There is one point in his New 
York history, however, which I ought to allude to. At the 
same time that Dr. Krackowizer emigrated to America, a 
number of German physicians left their country. Some 
were young ; some in advanced years ; some were unknown ; 
some had left places of distinction and honor; some had 
been driven away for their participation in the revolutions ; 
some followed, almost unconsciously, the new migration of 
peoples which began at that time. Many of them remained 
in New York. It would not be difficult to mention quite a 
number of distinguished men amongst them, some of them 
now dead, a good many in our midst. Education and lan- 
guage soon joined them, or part of them. The German 
Dispensary was opened by them in 1858, in Canal Street. It 
was afterwards in Third Street, and is at the present time in 
St. Mark's Place. It proved a successful institution from 
the start, both for the suffering public and the attending 
physicians and surgeons. The leading spirit of the institu- 
tion and the scientific reunions was Dr. Krackowizer. Both 
his superior character and intellect placed him, not in the 
first ranks, but at the head of all those on whom he, in his 
modesty, looked as his equals. There is none, there was 
none, who ever denied or grudged him that position. As in 
private practice, so in dispensary practice, he was the coun- 
sellor of all. In the scientific circles he was the principal 
thinker and the best speaker. When the German Hospital 
was contemplated, the physicians of the Dispensary were 



$6 IN MEMORY OF 

offered its medical administration. At that time, again, and 
when it was opened in 1869, he was the soul, the brain, the 
hand of all. He worked, he spoke, he begged for it, he 
administered. Never has a public institution of that kind 
owed more to the exertions of one man. For what he has 
done, the public admired him. His colleagues adored 
him. His presence warmed and stimulated them. He 
was their pride and joy. They felt safe when he co- 
operated with them, or worked for them, and a certain 
sense of ease and comfort was felt by the best of them 
as they were aware that they had in him a friend, a 
spokesman, a representative. In fact, the feeling gained 
ground that our position in the American profession was 
secured. For Krackowizer was one of us. . 

As he was in public, thus in private. He had time for 
everything, for everybody. A young man wanted his assist- 
ance in a tenement house, he had it. A colleague required 
his presence, paid or more frequently unpaid, at an operation, 
he was there. He was wanted for an extemporized meeting, 
he was first in attendance. Never man crowded more work 
into twenty-four hours. In consultations he was absolutely 
punctual, generous, cautious. Nobody knew how to sustain 
a young practitioner better while not neglecting his duties 
to the patient. Nobody has, by word and deed, done more 
to improve the relations of physician and public, and to 
increase the respect of the public for the profession. With 
nobody, young and old w r ould consult in preference to him. 
The larger part of surgical consultations amongst the Ger- 
mans, and much of the native, was his, and the best patholo- 
gists among his older friends have willingly admitted that 
they, in medical cases also, never had a clearer insight, more 
unbiased judgment, and often new ideas. There may be 



ERNST KRACKOWIZER. 57 

more brilliant operators amongst his surgical colleagues than 
he was, but not a more brilliant, more solid, more universal, 
more modest, more useful man. 

He has published but very little. The "nonumprema- 
tur in annum " has lasted a little too long. An immense 
learning and thinking has been buried in that quiet grave in 
Sing Sing. An instinctive modesty, and a positive horror of 
a great part of our daily medical food may have been, beside 
his constant overwork, the principal reason why he always 
refused to write. He had a great respect for the medical pro- 
fession, and felt, perhaps, averse to competing with the 
numerous original articles concocted from some old text- 
books, and with the text-books compiled by young men with 
an immense industry extending over three months, more or 
less, at the order of an enterprising publisher, from five pre- 
vious text-books, and spiced with an immense " experience in 
private and consultation practice " extending over several 
years since graduation. He did not bid for reputation, nor for 
practice, least of all a hot-house reputation ; reputation fol- 
lowed him and practice sought him. 

Amongst his cases presented to the Pathological Society, I 
mention a few : 

Double Morbus Coxarius. Extensive ulceration of bone with- 
out crepitus, or marked general or local symptoms. Being 
the history of a specimen presented to the New York Patho- 
logical Society, November 27, 1861 {Medical Record, May 
31, 1862, p. 301). The following sentences will be deemed 
worthy of remembering: ." There may be extensive ulcera- 
tion of bone in the joint, and yet no crepitus." " There 
may be very great distortion in the joint, and yet the local, 
as well as the general symptoms, may be very mild." 

A case of complete occlusion of the gut, presented to the 
8 



58 IN MEMORY OF 

New York Pathological Society, on April 23, 1862 {Medical 
Record, June 7, 1862). It is the most remarkable case on 
record of occlusion in the small intestine, at the upper end 
of ileum. The child lived from March 16th to April 21st — 
five weeks. It passed urine normally ; was fed on milk and 
fennel tea, the other baby (twin) being nursed. It retained 
food, grew restless on every second day after vomiting, and 
vomited on every fourth day only. There was no peritonitis, 
the small intestines were dilated so as to fill the abdominal 
cavity. The intestines below were very small. The glands 
belonging to the latter portion were but little developed. 
Between the dilated upper portion of the intestinal tract and 
the lower contracted part was a short filament of connective 
tissue. 

Case of fibro-cystic tumor of the uterus, with an elaborate 
history. Same date and place. 

Cirsoid aneurism of temporal and post-auricular arteries 
in a living subject. Pathological Society, September 11, 
1 86 1 {Medical Record, October 5, 1861). 

Necrosis of head of femur, with the following remark: "A 
good deal of harm can be done by operating too early, and 
an equal amount by postponement. The proper time to 
choose for such a proceeding is when the sequestrum is merely 
imbedded in the soft granulations which sprout out of the 
involucrum." Pathological Society, September 25, 1861 
{Medical Record, October 12, 1861). 

Tumor of neck composed of an aggregation of sebaceous 
follicles. Same place and date. 

Cystic hygroma, from the right axilla of a girl of three years. 
Pathological Society, October 23, 1861 {Medical Record, Jan- 
uary 22, 1862). 

Osteosarcoma of superior maxilla. Same place and date. 



ERNST KRACKOWIZER. 59 

Mammary tumors (Paget) in a woman of twenty-six years, 
of three years' standing. 

Aneurism of subclavian artery, with exact observations of 
the pupils during and after the attacks of asphyxia, and re- 
marks upon the irritation and compression of sympathetic 
nerve of both sides, in its relation to the dilatation of the 
pupils. Pathological Society, March 12, 1862 (Medical Record, 
April 19, 1862). 

Two neuromata at the end of an amputated forearm. The 
principal nerves of the extremity were found to terminate in 
them. 

Resection of shoulder joint, with caries of head down to ana- 
tomical and surgical neck. 

Resection of hip joint, head and acetabulum. Pathological 
Society, March 28, 1866 (Medical Record, p. 436, 1866). 

Uterus extirpated, being mistaken for ovarian tumor. 
Pathological Society, June 27, 1867 (Medical Record, Aug. 
15, 1867), which is a case of gastro-hysterotomy, deplored as 
a fearful mistake by Krackowizer, while another surgeon has 
lately recommended a similar operation for curative purposes. 

Before the surgical section of this Academy of Medicine — 
meeting of April 25, 1862 (Medical Record, June 28, 1862) — 
Dr. Krackowizer made extensive remarks, part of which fol- 
low, briefly : Tracheotomy has been performed two hundred 
and fifty times in New York and Brooklyn, oftener than in 
Great Britain and Ireland, and oftener than in Germany. Dr. 
W. Roth has operated forty-eight times, being outranked in 
the number of his operations by only three or four Paris sur- 
geons. Dr. Krackowizer reported thirty-one cases of his 
own, and ten in which he had assisted. He warned against 
giving too positive promises in regard to permanent or even 
temporary relief, for croup symptoms and suffocation fre- 



60 IN MEMORY OF 

quently return when the disease progresses downwards. 
Anaesthesia is a great aid in the operation, and not more 
dangerous than in other operations. Dr. Voss was of the 
same opinion. Dr. Roth used chloroform in tracheotomy 
the first time on June 14, 1854. Dr. Snow only has preceded 
him. Spasm is not a complication of the croup dyspnoea, 
for this symptom is not improved by anaesthesia. In cases 
where anaesthesia is established by carbonic acid poisoning, 
no anaesthetic is required. These cases are very rare. Where 
no anaesthetic is used, there is more struggling and more 
dyspnoea. 

In the discussion in the Medical Society of the County of 
New York, April 3, 1871, upon abscesses of the processus 
vermiformis, Dr. Krackowizer related the case of a young 
man who had repeated abscesses until a seed of a pear or 
apple w r as discharged ; also the case of a boy who had a 
caeco-vesical fistula, and discharged an ascaris lumbricoides 
through the urethra ; finally, that of an idiotic boy, of 
seven years, who had always been on milk diet. Once in 
his life he was given some strawberries ; some time after he 
died of perforation of the vermiform process. Two concre- 
tions were found, each of which contained a strawberry seed. 
In connection with this subject, he then made the following 
statement, Avhich I repeat in full, because I think it of very 
great importance, and positively correct : 

" A point concerning the etiology of the affection has 
often occurred to me. Seeking the first of the series of path- 
ological changes that led finally to the fatal result, we fre- 
quently find in the post-mortem examination of these cases 
not only the recent exudations which had walled up the mat- 
ter until finally it broke through them into the peritoneal cav- 
ity ; not only the ulceration and perforation of the appendix, 



ERNST KRACKOWIZER. 6 1 

but besides these, adhesions apparently much older, binding 
down the appendix to the surrounding parts. My impres- 
sion is that these first adhesions of the appendix, by their 
traction, render patulous its opening into the caecum, and 
thus expose it to intrusion of seeds or other foreign bodies, 
about which form the faecal concretions which lead to ulcer- 
ation. This point seems to me worthy of further investiga- 
tion, to ascertain whether or not it is customary to find such 
adhesions of older date than the ulcerative process." 

On May I, he wound up with the subject by presenting 
a specimen, accompanied with one of his well-prepared and 
brilliant histories. 

In the Medical Record of June I, 1867, he published 
"an interesting case of vesico-intestinal fistula, with dis- 
charge of ascaris lumbricoides/^r urethram. (Remarks made 
before the New York Pathological Society, March 13, 1867.) 
The case was complicated with Bright's disease, ulceration 
of the bladder, and pyaemia. The closing remarks are as 
follow: "As objects of surgical interference, cases of in- 
testino-vesical fistula must be divided into two distinct 
groups. The first group, comprising cases in which the fis- 
tula exists between the bladder and the rectum, and can be 
seen and reached, permit of surgical treatment. Of the sec- 
ond class, where the fistula exists between the bladder and 
any section of the intestines, down to that part of the rec- 
tum which already receives a peritoneal investment, it must 
be said that it is beyond the reach of art." 

In the Transactions of the Medical Society of the State of 
New York, for 1873, p. 13, there is a report on the discussion 
upon Dr. Gouley's paper on the median operation for stone. 
Dr. Krackowizer contributed a masterly extemporaneous 
report of two cases. In next year's Transactions, 1874, p 



62 IN MEMORY OF 

168, there is a paper of his on " Three cases of perineal 
lithotripsy." Here is the clear and concise statement of the 
man who never said a word too much : " It differs from, and 
is superior to, median lithotomy, so-called, mainly for two 
reasons : First, in that it dilates the wound track, the pros- 
tatic portion and the neck of the bladder in a more gentle and 
gradual manner than it is possible to do with the fingers ; 
and second, that it renounces beforehand the attempt of ex- 
tracting a stone beyond the diameter of three-quarters of an 
inch, considering that the track established by median lithot- 
omy cannot be stretched safely beyond the diameter of one 
inch, without exposing the patient to the immediate and sub- 
sequent dangers of tearing and contusing the parts which 
constitute the way for extracting the stone." 

This must suffice. But I should not do justice to the man 
if I did not emphasize the fact that he was more than a medi- 
cal man only. Whatever the attribute of man, that he was ; 
at the same time manly and humane. His life has been spent 
in learning and doing the right. Man was to him not only 
an interesting subject in the anatomical theater, or on the 
operating table, but in individual and political and social 
life. Never did he cease to take an active interest in social 
questions and in politics. In him, politics assumed again the 
purity which even we know how to appreciate and admire in 
the fathers of this country of ours. He did not drift into pol- 
itics ; he was a born politician, for he lived, soul and heart, 
with the people, its development, growth, efforts, its happi- 
ness and unhappiness. Nourished upon the classics, he was 
a republican of old. No oppression or injustice found grace 
before his eyes. Thus he was a freesoiler, thus he was an 
abolitionist ; no matter whether the chains to be broken were 
those of color, or religion, or sex. Whatever were his convic- 



ERNST KRACKOWIZER. 63 

tions, he translated them into deeds. Force and action were 
with him identical. He supported Fremont, supported Lin- 
coln, supported energetically the war for the Union. But 
never was he one-sided, or his eyes blinded by passion. When 
the waves of political fury and rancor dashed as far as into 
this Academy of Medicine, he was one of a very few who 
strenuously resisted the expulsion, for alleged rebel sympa- 
thies, of a Southern born member, whose name has since be- 
come a household word in two hemispheres. And when the 
war terminated, he was one of the far-seeing politicians of 
the better class, who, while severely reprimanding the offen- 
sive course taken by Andrew Johnson, were in favor of deal- 
ing with the conquered South on an unmilitary basis. He 
was one of those who, during the first administration of 
Grant, hoped for the speedy disorganization of the old politi- 
cal parties, either of them having outlived the conditions of 
their existence, and for new frames in which the political de- 
velopment of the country could find fair play. Thus, as he 
had supported Grant against rebellion, he supported liberal- 
ism against Grant. He was one of the first who cut loose 
from the Republican party, to become what is now-a-days 
called the Independent Voter. He felt assured that the 
American people would not be guided and gagged much 
longer by party ties, holding that the party is only the 
means of executing the desires and wants of the community, 
and not an aim, an entity in itself. Thus, he was a sup- 
porter of Greeley in the last presidential election rather than 
Grant, and an independent voter, as he was an independent 
thinker and man to the very last. 

On the field of politics, as on others, places and honors 
sought him. In the majority of campaigns, he was at the 
head of large organizations ; in the Committee of Seventy, 



64 IN MEMORY OF 

and the Council of Political Reform, he was an esteemed 
member. To whatever he directed his attention, the atten- 
tion of the public was directed to him. Whenever his ser- 
vices were required, he gave them, no matter whether in 
rank or file. Let me quote here, what Plutarch says of 
one of the most beautiful specimens of Hellenic spirit and 
valor — Aristides : " Admirable was the equanimity of the 
man in all changes of his public relations. He never prided 
himself on account of honors, he remained quiet and self- 
possessed on provocations and insults. He always deemed 
himself under obligations to his country, and declared to 
owe it the same zeal, and to work for it without either pecu- 
niary advantage, or honor, or appreciation." 

I have mentioned the name of the good and great ancient 
with whom all my life time I have compared him, Aristides. 
If there was a man amongst us blessed with true Hellenic 
spirit, it was Krackowizer. Of his public character I have 
spoken. It was, however, only a repetition of his private 
character. No fear ever shook him : no bribe ever tempted 
him. He was incorruptible even by friendship, or love, or 
desire. The applause of the masses never impressed him, 
his own conscience was his guide and his adviser. At the 
same time he was modest almost to excess. He never spoke 
of what he had done. What he could do in a good cause, 
he did ; he would often ask for advice, where he did not re- 
quire it. What he did, he did fully and earnestly. One of 
his last sentences was : " Never do what does not fully cor- 
respond with its purpose." There was but one man in re- 
gard to whom he judged sternly, viz.,' himself; in regard to 
others he was always mild, excusing and explaining doubt- 
ful traits of character or actions. Only once in my life have 
I heard him denounce a man in bitter words, and in that case 



ERNST KRACKOWIZER. 65 

he proved but too right, at last. He was great enough to 
have enemies, but he enjoyed the respect of friends and 
enemies equally. His character was undoubted, his univer- 
sality acknowledged, his morals in its broadest sense unex- 
ceptional. Humanity was his leading star. On its altar he 
has deposited a fortune, health, and, finally, life. He was 
great as a physician, but his principal greatness he has 
obtained as a man in whom great powers were happily 
blended in mild harmony. Much had been given to him, 
much was demanded of him, and he gave it all. He will 
have a monument. That monument will be the ever- 
increasing knowledge of the vacancy he left in our midst. 

" Man soil nichts thun was seinem Zwecke nicht ganz entspricht." 
9 



66 IN MEMORY OF 



Resolutions of the Medical Library and Journal 
Association. 

Resolved, That we are deeply grieved at the death of our 
fellow Dr. Ernst Krackowizer. Dr. Krackowizer was 
in many respects, a remarkable man. Endowed with more 
than ordinary natural talents, he had, by diligent study, and 
with the aid of excellent opportunities, made himself one of 
the most advanced medical scholars of the country, and of 
the age in which he lived. He was a man, also, of great 
practical tact and skill, of excellent judgment — always 
cautious and considerate, and yet possessed of sufficient 
courage and self-reliance for the greatest emergencies. He 
was withal modest, and this was the virtue which shone 
most conspicuously in his crown of diamonds, and which 
secured to him the love of all who knew him. 

We feel his loss ; and we tender to his family and to all 
who have been intimately related to, or associated with him, 
our profound sympathies. 

Frank H. Hamilton, 

Chairman of Committee. 






ernst krackowizer. 67 

Medical Society of the County of New York. 

The Committee appointed to prepare resolutions in regard 
to the death of Dr. Krackowizer, respectfully submit the 
following : 

Resolved, That in the death of Dr. Krackowizer, this 
Society has sustained the loss of a member who, by the 
interest he always manifested in its proceedings, contributed 
in no small degree to its prosperity. 

Resolved, That having obtained foremost rank in our pro- 
fession by his great learning, unsurpassed skill, honorable 
bearing to his associates, and unselfish devotion of time and 
money to the interest of the healing art and its followers, 
we owe to his memory a debt of gratitude which cannot be 
estimated. 

Resolved, That the distinguished position which he, as a 
citizen of his adopted country, had secured among public 
men, by his sound judgment and ardent patriotism, called 
for, and received the unqualified commendation of all classes 
in the community. 

Resolved, That his bright example, as a physician, a scholar 
and a citizen, should ever be held as a model for imitation by 
all who seek to advance professional or secular interests. 

Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions, signed by the 
President and Secretary, be sent to the family of the de- 
ceased and to the medical journals. 

Ellsworth Eliot, M. D., 
Hermann Guleke, M. D., 
A. Jacobi, M. D. 



6S IN MEMORY OF ERNST KRACKOWIZER. 



ABSTRACT from the Introductory Address of H. B. Sands, 
M. D., President of the Medical Society of the County of 
New York, delivered on November 29th, 1875. 

" Death has not failed to claim his victims among us, and, 
besides many others,- has removed from our midst one who 
was so recently a fellow-laborer with us, that we can scarcely 
realize our loss. I allude to our friend and brother, Dr. 
Ernst Krackowizer, who died on the 23d of last September, 
of typhoid fever. Those who knew the deceased as long 
and as well as it was my privilege to know him, will accuse 
me of no exaggeration when I affirm that our society could 
not have sustained a greater bereavement. Fitted, both by 
native ability and thorough training, to be a leader in our 
ranks, he has been stricken down in the prime of his life, in 
the fullness of his powers, and at the very meridian of his 
usefulness and prosperity. Whether we regard the acute- 
riess of his intellect, the integrity of his character, or the 
benevolence of his disposition, we feel equally ready to do 
homage to his memory ; and while we deplore his death with 
unfeigned sorrow, let us cherish a lively recollection of his 
many virtues, and strive to emulate the example he has set 
us as an earnest and faithful disciple of the healing art." 



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